Depression and Anxiety May Heighten Long COVID Risk
Researchers had already noted that people with chronic physical health conditions were more likely to have serious illness from COVID-19, which in turn has been linked to a high risk of developing long-term impairment. A new study published September 7 in JAMA Psychiatry, however, has found that psychological factors — such as depression, anxiety, worry, perceived stress, and loneliness — may be an even greater predictor of long COVID than physical problems.“We were surprised by how strongly psychological distress before a COVID-19 infection was associated with an increased risk of long COVID,” said the lead author, Siwen Wang, MD, a researcher in the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in a statement. “Distress was more strongly associated with developing long COVID than physical health risk factors such…