Post-Covid syndrome hits you in the head. How does the virus affect the psyche?

"Covid fog"

“I suffered from coronavirus in a mild form, the temperature did not rise above 37.8 degrees,” says 35-year-old Natalya.
— At the beginning of the disease, the sensations were similar to the symptoms of a regular ARVI. But then something began to happen to your head: you seem to live in a fog. You don’t want to think about anything, do anything. It took me more than two months to get out of this state.” 44-year-old economist Alexey, who also recovered from coronavirus relatively easily, also complains of apathy: “I plunged into cat life for two weeks. You wake up, eat a little, then fall into a stupor and fall asleep without noticing. And so around the clock. You can’t remember anything in your head, you don’t remember any important things. Then it gradually began to pass, but I didn’t have the strength to engage in any intellectual activity for a long time.”

But 49-year-old Svetlana, who was hospitalized due to bilateral pneumonia, had to face other consequences. For three months after discharge, she suffered from insomnia and anxiety, and in the short intervals when she managed to fall asleep, she suffered from nightmares. As a result, the woman had to turn to a psychiatrist for help.

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Experts drew attention to such consequences after the first wave of the pandemic. Today, according to researchers, more than a third of those who have recovered from coronavirus experience negative mental consequences to one degree or another. The range of disorders is very wide: from apathy to prolonged depression, panic attacks and memory problems. Doctors also discovered dependence: the more severe the illness, the more serious the psychological consequences.

“In general, it is very difficult to talk about any clear impact of coronavirus on the human psyche,” says Nikolai Starostin, a psychiatrist at a private St. Petersburg clinic. - For two reasons. Firstly, we still do not know exactly how the mechanism of the virus’s influence on the human mental apparatus works. There are already quite a lot of different studies, but they are still at the stage of discussion in the scientific community. We understand that this is clearly influenced by vascular damage: after all, they are the main target of the virus. But this knowledge is not yet enough to draw clear conclusions.”

Psychiatrists point out that the mental health problem associated with COVID-19 is much broader than just the effect of the virus on the human body. We can say that its effect on the human psyche begins much earlier than it enters the body.

What is depression?

When doctors talk about depression, they are talking about a condition called major depression. Patients with major depression experience the following symptoms all day long, almost every day for at least 2 weeks in a row.

If you have depression, you may also have headaches, pain in other parts of your body, or problems with digestion or sex life. An older person with depression may have difficulty understanding simple messages or requests made to them.

Symptoms of depression:

lack of interest in activities that were previously enjoyable.
Feeling sad or empty.
Tearfulness, causeless crying.
A feeling of inhibition or, conversely, a feeling of restlessness and the inability to sit in one place.
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
Rapid weight gain or loss.
Thoughts about death or suicide.
Difficulty thinking, remembering, or concentrating on current activities.
Difficulty making everyday decisions.
Trouble sleeping, especially in the early morning hours or feeling sleepy throughout the day.
Constant feeling of fatigue.
Feelings of emotional numbness, sometimes to the point of being completely unable to cry.

Anxious expectations

Already in the first wave of the pandemic in 2022, psychiatrists drew attention to changes in the mental health of the population. Lockdowns, other coronavirus restrictions, remote work, a person constantly being at home - all this has already provoked negative psychological effects. Add to this anxious expectations - fear of becoming seriously ill, fear for loved ones, the possibility of losing a job - and here it is, a set that places a heavy burden on the human psyche.

At the same time, some researchers have started talking about the increase in suicidal and depressive feelings among completely healthy citizens in different countries of the world. Moreover, data began to appear about increasing cases of domestic violence and divorce.

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When a person gets sick, his anxious expectations intensify. The patient begins to monitor his condition, symptoms, temperature, and breathing with fear. No one wants to end up in a hospital under strict quarantine. Even more fears are caused by the possibility of developing severe complications, the use of ventilators and other procedures. Now doctors already know that the most severe psychological consequences occur precisely in patients who have undergone artificial ventilation.

Treatment of obsessive fear of death

Treatment is prescribed by the doctor individually. There is no universal cure for thanatophobia. Each sick person is given his own scheme, a combination of medical methods and psychological techniques, aimed at recovery and relief from painful anxiety. The most common methods of therapy are:

Pharmacotherapy. The fastest and most powerful method. Drugs from the group of tranquilizers, neuroleptics, antidepressants, and neurometabolic therapy are used.
Physiotherapy. Electro-sleep is a physical therapy that helps relieve painful anxiety.
Psychotherapy. A large number of psychotherapeutic techniques are effective for thanatophobia: cognitive psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, hypnosis and trance methods, relaxation training, etc.
Biofeedback therapy (biofeedback).
Therapeutic massage and physical training.

Other methods: diet therapy, therapeutic fasting, sleep deprivation, water procedures.

In most cases, the obsessive fear of death is completely reversible. Treatment is carried out both at home and in a hospital. The average course of active treatment is about 10 days.

How does the virus work?

But the causes of post-Covid mental disorders are not only fears for one’s life. Here the actual factors of the disease begin to play a role. Lack of oxygen in the body also leads to poor supply to the brain. This effect can lead to a variety of consequences for the nervous system.

According to a study by Italian doctors published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, 55% of patients who recovered from Covid experienced some kind of mental problems. Scientists who surveyed 402 people associate them with hormonal imbalances, which are provoked by the immune system resisting the virus. Another reason for negative mental consequences is the severe stress that the patient’s body experiences.

A subsequent study of the psyche of patients who had COVID-19 corrected the data of Italian specialists. Thus, a group of researchers from the USA and Great Britain received less pessimistic results. After a large-scale study of the medical histories of more than 230 thousand people, scientists said that only 34% of Covid survivors complained of anxiety and personality disorder within six months.

Overcoming depression:

Limit yourself. Don't expect to complete everything you were able to do before. Make a realistic work plan.
Don't give too much importance to all your negative thoughts, such as self-blame or expecting failure. Such thoughts are part of depression. They will disappear as soon as you get rid of depression.
Participate in activities that give you pleasure or give you a feeling of achieving a goal.
Avoid making important decisions while depressed. If you need to make this decision, ask someone you trust to help you.
Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages and drugs. Both make depression worse, and both can interact dangerously with the antidepressants you are taking.
Physical activity appears to cause chemical reactions in the body that improve your mood. Exercising 4 to 6 times a week for at least 30 minutes is an excellent achievement. However, even less activity can be beneficial.
Try not to be disappointed. It takes some time for you to be completely free from depression.

Covid as trauma

Specialists from the National Medical Research Center named after. V. M. Bekhterev believes that after COVID-19, patients experience symptoms characteristic of the so-called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is a mental disorder that occurs after events that have a traumatic effect on the individual’s psyche. At the same time, the traumatic nature of the events that occurred is associated with a person’s feeling of helplessness, the inability to influence what is happening, and to resist danger. Characteristic symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, nightmares, partial amnesia, emotional instability and panic attacks. These manifestations can occur not only immediately after a traumatic event, but also months and even years later.

PTSD is well known to psychiatrists - this disorder can occur after any event that traumatizes the individual’s psyche. And Covid may well be one of them.

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Signs of obsessional neurosis

Among the signs characteristic of the disorder:

obsessive fears that have no good reason;
harassing thoughts and judgments;
obsessions;
actions of the same type, reminiscent of a ritual.

Patients with OCD may be afraid of getting infected with something, meeting someone, or not liking someone. Many of them have a painful form of perfectionism. Then a person tries to achieve ideal order and cleanliness in everything. The most common “rituals” are checking whether the front door is closed, whether the gas stove or lights are turned off. A sick person may wash their hands too often or look out the window.

Patients often come up with very unusual rituals - for example, they squat three times before putting on their shoes, or turn around their axis several times before entering the apartment. This behavior seems very strange to others.

"Side effect"

Another factor is the side effects of medications used to treat COVID-19. For example, glucocorticosteroids (GCS) are widely used in modern anti-Covid therapy. They are often prescribed in high doses and for a fairly long period. But at the same time, GCS can cause hallucinations, delusional states, depression and even manic-depressive states and paranoia. Taking other medications used in the treatment of Covid, for example, some antiviral drugs, also has a negative impact on the psyche.

Rules for reading conspiracies and prayers

For many centuries, various spells and psalms have been successfully used in the treatment of phobias and mental disorders. Such magic can be called a simple and accessible method, tested by thousands of happy people. They can also help cure fear in young children, adults and even animals. In order for the text to work successfully, you must adhere to the following rules:

Three days before the start of the ritual, you need to give up meat, cigarettes and alcohol. This post is very important and should not be missed!
In the event that strong prayer from obsessive thoughts does not help, we are talking about severe damage, which should be removed in another way.
When reading, the mind should be free from extraneous thoughts. Don't rush and get distracted by other things.
It is better to learn a short text by heart, this way it will work better.
It is very important to sincerely believe in the result.
During the ritual, you must imagine that God hears all the words.
It is necessary to turn to God on an ongoing basis, and not only when trouble strikes.
It is extremely important to comply with all the conditions of the ritual.

Everything that needs to be gotten rid of is done on the waning moon!

Post-Covid syndrome?

The entire diverse set of consequences in people who have survived a new coronavirus infection has already been called “post-COVID-19 syndrome.” Among its symptoms are mental disorders that are already well known to us: “fog in the head,” disorientation in space, panic attacks and cognitive disorders. However, some researchers say that mental problems in Covid survivors are not unique consequences of the new disease, but complications that cause any severe infectious disease.

So, back in 2022, an article appeared in the authoritative medical journal The Lancet, which analyzed 72 studies of the consequences of epidemics - the precursors of COVID-19 - the SARS-1 and MERS viruses. Mental disorders in those who recovered from these infections turned out to be identical: confusion, depressed mood, anxiety, memory impairment, insomnia and even delirium. Thus, we can draw a preliminary conclusion: the COVID-19 virus does not necessarily have any unique properties that affect the psyche.

Dealing with the disorder

The basis of treatment for obsessive-compulsive neurosis is psychotherapy. It is very important to carry out deep work with the patient’s psyche in order to achieve positive dynamics. A psychotherapist helps you overcome:

depressive ideas;
pessimism;
anxiety;
obsessive thoughts.

To achieve this, she conducts group, individual and cognitive behavioral therapy sessions. In some cases, music therapy and art therapy are used. If the case is advanced, additional medications are used.