Anxiety and depression may persist 1.5 years after COVID-19.

    A large-scale study by an international group of scientists showed that the severity of complications directly depends on the severity of COVID-19, and the duration of symptoms can persist for a year and a half, and possibly more. A large-scale study by an international group of scientists showed that the severity of complications directly depends on the severity of COVID-19, and the duration of symptoms can persist for a year and a half, and possibly more.

   Various studies have already examined the effects of COVID-19 on people's mental health, but most of them are limited in terms of the duration of observation of patients. In the new study, which EurekAlert writes about, the observation period was 16 months, and scientists clearly compared the variety and severity of symptoms with the severity of the infection. 

    The first finding was that the milder form of COVID-19 was less likely to result in psychiatric disorders. In such patients, if neurological complications developed, they most often disappeared within two months. In the severe form of COVID-19, when patients were hospitalized for at least a week, a different situation was observed - mental disorders developed more often and persisted throughout the entire observation period (up to 16 months).

“This means that the mental health outcomes are not the same for people recovering from COVID-19 and the severity of the infection is a determining factor for the development of these complications,” concluded the scientists, who offer two plausible explanations. First, this may be due to the level of inflammation in the body, which is higher with more severe disease. Second, people with milder COVID-19 tend to feel better psychologically and recover faster emotionally.

    In addition to depression and anxiety, sleep problems were also particularly common, the authors specify. These indicators are very important for understanding the long-term effects of the pandemic. The results demonstrate that a significant proportion of patients need psychological help after COVID-19 and such tools to return to normal life should be provided.

Another study reports that even the asymptomatic form of COVID-19 can lead to impaired memory and attention and persist for up to nine months.