Advice from a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist
This information is sourced from Dr Tim Nicholson, Consultant Neuropsychiatrist
Q. How long should we expect low mood symptoms to last for over the course of recovery from Covid-19?
A.
- In short, we don’t know the answer to this yet – we are starting to see emerging groups of patients with severe chronic symptoms of Covid-19 in both those who had primarily respiratory symptoms warranting admission and those with ‘mild’ symptoms who didn’t require admission
- These symptoms are highly variable and can be any combination of chiefly respiratory, cardiac, neurological and psychiatric symptoms that can often interact
- Interestingly large patient groups are coalescing online and have called themselves ‘long haulers’
- There is an urgent need to get good data on how common these symptoms are, investigate the mechanisms and provide support and appropriate treatment to maximise recovery
