Mental health and long COVID: The importance of seeking professional help

"When you experience long COVID mental health symptoms for weeks or months on end it's easy to begin to doubt your own sanity," explains Dr Marshinee Naidoo, a specialist psychiatrist practicing at the Akeso Clinics in Parktown and Alberton. "What makes matters worse is when you're not taken seriously by your medical practitioner when you describe how you're feeling. It's essential for your healthcare provider to be more mindful when you report any symptoms - even if they don't seem severe," she says. "The worst thing is for you to be brushed aside as this prevents you from getting the help you need when your symptoms are relatively easier to treat."

Ask for help from loved ones

Dr Naidoo suggests asking a family member or friend to help monitor your long COVID mental health symptoms to establish whether there's been a shift from your usual behaviour and mindset. Are you constantly distracted from your normal roles and responsibilities? Have you not been yourself for quite a while? "Of course we all have our bad days and our down days," she says. "So it's important for them to help you to determine whether this is just a passing phase or something that requires the implementation of treatment interventions. If your symptoms are ongoing, it's important to seek professional help early on to prevent a more resistant or more prolonged mental health disorder."

Make sure you are heard

If you're battling with vague symptoms, such as tiredness, a low mood, lethargy or 'brain fog' and your doctor simply dismisses them as 'pandemic fatigue', be persistent and ask for a referral to a counsellor or psychologist, says Dr Naidoo. "This is because your symptoms could well be depression or some other serious mental health condition." "Remember that, as a long COVID patient, having these symptoms is a very real experience, and you're not just being difficult." She adds. "Essentially, it's just another effect of COVID-19 - the direct result of the impact of inflammation from the infection on the mood-regulating functions of your brain. So when you say 'I'm not getting better' or 'It's taking me a very long time to recover' you must make sure that you are heard and insist on being evaluated by a trained healthcare professional".

• Read more on the immune-mediated effect (effect resulting from the activity of the immune system) on the brain, in people who experience long COVID and how this could be linked to depression.

Coping skills for long COVID patients

Dr Naidoo offers the following guidelines to help with your mental health symptoms:

• Establish a routine. Make sure you get up, get dressed and get going every day. This can be quite a task with long COVID taking a toll on your physical and mental health, but it's important to make the effort.
• Stay connected. The pandemic has resulted in a lot of isolation, and when you're dealing with a mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression, you tend to withdraw even more. It's essential to find ways of staying virtually connected with family and friends despite being apart - especially right now in the midst of the third wave - and to connect with online support groups too.
• Switch off from the constant COVID-19 news, from social media and the horror stories as all that negativity is not good for your mental health recovery. We all need to know what's happening or not happening out there in the world but rather stick to one reliable source of news, check in at a set time each day and then let it be.
• Head outdoors for some healing sunshine and spend time in nature or with pets.
• Practice mindfulness - try it when washing your hands. Close your eyes, feel the touch of the water, the sensation of the soap. Taking deep breaths will also help to release stress.
• Eat healthily and stay hydrated. Good overall nutrition is essential for your mental wellbeing. It is important to eat foods that are rich in essential vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, protein and fatty acids to keeping your brain in good working order. Dehydration also contributes to depression by obstructing serotonin production.
• Make sure you get enough sleep - it's essential for healing
• Find ways to exercise even if you're battling with respiratory symptoms. Gentle movements, such as stretching, walking or even dancing, will help to keep your body active and your mind occupied. Find out more about how to ease back into fitness.
• Be kind - to yourself and to others - it's one of the most important lessons we've learnt from this pandemic. Our patience is being tested again as we battle the third wave, and since we don't know how long we're going to have to deal with this, kindness will make a world of difference in each of our lives.

Find out more about helping a loved one who is dealing with long COVID.