Long COVID can exacerbate existing mental health disorders or cause new-onset psychiatric symptoms, but mental illness does not cause long COVID, experts say.
The consensus guidance statement on the assessment and treatment of mental health symptoms in patients with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), also known as long COVID, was published online in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the journal of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R).
The statement was developed by a task force that included experts from physical medicine, neurology, neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, rehabilitation psychology, and primary care. It is the eighth guidance statement on long COVID published by AAPM&R.
"Many of our patients have reported experiences in which their symptoms of long COVID have been dismissed either by loved ones in the community, or also amongst healthcare providers, and they've been told their symptoms are in their head or due to a mental health condition, but that's simply not true," Abby Cheng, MD, a physiatrist at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, who is a co-author of the new guidance, said in a press briefing.
"Long COVID is real, and mental health conditions do not cause long COVID," Cheng added.
Millions of Americans Affected
Anxiety and depressionhave been reported as the second and third most common symptoms of long COVID, according to the guidance statement.
