The long COVID and its mental health manifestations – the review of literature

Abstract

This article aims to present the overview of the situation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic about issues concerning the prevalence of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, rate of suicide attempts, and long COVID (LC) infections in the general population during COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of the literature (in English, Polish and Spanish language) on topics related to COVID-19, mental disorders (suicide attempts, depression, anxiety) and LC infection published during the 4 years (2020–2023) was done using Pubmed and PubMed Central search engine. Keywords such as “COVID-19,” “mental disorders,” “long COVID infection,” “depression,” “anxiety,” “suicide attempts” were used during the search. The conduct of this review/comment followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol, which corresponds to a checklist of 27 items designed to facilitate the development and reporting of a robust protocol for systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Overall 35 studies were selected and analyzed in the review on topics: including among others LC (14 studies), suicide attempts (7 studies), mental disorders (depression, anxiety) (14 studies). The main issues raised in the articles were: higher risk of LC symptoms in women, fatigue and brain fog listed as frequently encountered patient’s complaints together with anxiety, depression, loneliness, especially in younger age groups and in women. Issues regarding LC, mental disorders and suicide attempts requires further research as the results vary in different countries. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2024;37(3):360–80

Keywords

• depression
• anxiety
• suicide attempts
• covid-19
• mental disorders
• long covid symptoms