Depression, Anxiety and Loneliness could increase risk of Long Covid: Know Why

• Image Credit: NBC NEWS

• Sep 19, 2022 | Kabir Chakraborty

Stress was more significantly linked to the development of long-term COVID than physical health risk factors such as obesity, asthma, and hypertension, according to the study's principal author, Siwen Wang, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School. color:#111111;letter-spacing:-.75pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">

color:#111111;letter-spacing:-.75pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Digital Desk: Coronavirus cases are
declining globally, but their effects are still being seen on a physical and
psychological level. According to a recent study, persons who experience
periods of anxiety, despair, and loneliness prior to contracting the
coronavirus have a considerably higher risk of getting long-term COVID than do
those with good mental health.

According to research
done by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health researchers, psychological
distress before Covid-19 infection is linked to a higher risk of long-term
Covid and this association is irrespective of smoking, asthma, and other risky
behaviours or physical health concerns.

We were really aback by
how closely psychological discomfort prior to a Covid-19 infection was linked
to a higher probability of protracted Covid. Stress was more significantly
linked to the development of long-term COVID than physical health risk factors
such as obesity, asthma, and hypertension, according to the study's principal
author, Siwen Wang, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan
School.

The research results
were released in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. It claims that the risk of
developing post-Covid-19 symptoms was linked to psychological discomfort prior
to infection.

What Is Long Covid?

Long Covid, to put it simply, is the phrase used to describe the
long-term consequences of the coronavirus that causes SARS-CoV-2 on the body.
The US-based Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as a
broad spectrum of continuing health issues that may persist for days, weeks, or
even months following a Covid negative diagnosis.

According to the CDC, anyone who has been exposed to the virus
that causes Covid-19 can develop post-Covid disorders, even if they had a minor
sickness or no symptoms from Covid-19. However, post-Covid conditions are more
frequently identified in those who had severe Covid-19 illness.

How Is Long Covid
Related To Mental Health?

In April 2020, 54,000
persons participated in the study; at the start of the trial, they were
questioned about any psychological difficulty they were experiencing. 3000
subjects tested positive for Covid during the course of the following year;
they were then questioned about their symptoms and their duration.

Data analysis showed
that mental distress, such as depression, anxiety, concern, perceived stress,
and loneliness, before Covid-19 infection was linked to a 32–46% higher
probability of protracted Covid. In the past, various diseases have also been
linked to mental health. It is linked to influenza symptoms that are more
severe and last longer.

Along with physical
health, psychological health must be taken into account as a risk factor for
long Covid-19. The JAMA Psychiatry paper's main author, Andrea Roberts, said in
a statement that these findings "reinforce the need to raise public
understanding of the significance of mental health and to get mental health
care for people who need it." -.75pt">