- Experts believe there may be a link between severe post-COVID symptoms and increased suicide risks.
- Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor’s suicide last month highlighted COVID’s impact on mental health.
- Severe tinnitus and persistent “brain fog” are some “long-distance” symptoms that COVID sufferers may experience.
Months of suffering from ‘long-range’ COVID symptoms can cause sufferers to develop severe depression and anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts.
Kent Taylor, general manager of Texas Roadhouse,’s death by suicide last month highlighted COVID’s serious toll on mental health.
“After a battle with post-Covid-related symptoms, including severe tinnitus, Kent Taylor took his own life this week,” Taylor’s family said in a statement Friday.
“Kent fought and fought hard like the former track champion he was, but the suffering that has increased sharply over the past few days has become unbearable,” the statement read.
Taylor was among the many who struggled to cope with the debilitating long-term effects of COVID: tinnitus, constant ‘brain fog’ and memory loss and endless fatigue.
These symptoms – and how people can deal with them in the long run – are still being studied, as the number of COVID cases exceeds the US market of 30 million.
When physical stressors change into psychological
Research by Leo Sher, professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, noted that COVID sufferers could still remain agitated with headaches, dizziness, seizures and other neurological conditions long after their COVID diagnosis.
These physical stressors, Sher warned, can often turn into psychological problems.
“COVID-19 survivors should be considered individuals at increased risk for suicide,” Sher wrote in an April 2021 article. “Recovered COVID-19 patients need to be screened for depression, and many survivors of coronavirus disease will need long-term psychological interventions.”
For some COVID “long guards” the idea is to never live 100% again.
Dr. Jill Stoller, a pediatrician from New Jersey, contracted COVID in March 2020. She recovered from the infection but could never completely shake off some of the symptoms. Stoller, The New York Times reported in March, struggled with brain fog and depression.
The 59-year-old tried for months to move to a full recovery, but still felt weak and short of breath.
After intensively examining the experiences of COVID ‘long-term guards’, Stoller was convinced that she would never fully recover.
“She had this amazing ability to bounce back from anything, but this time was different,” her son, Travis Stoller, told The Times.
Six months after she contracted COVID, Stoller took her own life on November 29th.
“I don’t think any of us realized how hopeless she felt,” her son said. “But she was absolutely convinced that this virus had completely changed her as a person.”
According to a Harvard Medical School study, although many people recover from COVID within a few weeks or months, they are likely to suffer chronic lung, heart, kidney and brain damage. But others, the “long-term watchers”, may still have symptoms that linger for months, including constant headaches, fatigue, prolonged body aches and inability to sleep.
The New York Times also reported that long-term caregivers do not have to suffer from COVID symptoms to experience long-term effects – and some cases get worse over time. Long-term symptoms can have a devastating effect on one’s mental health, making depression and suicidal thoughts a risk of the COVID recovery process.
Recent research published in the European Respiratory Journal also noted that long-term COVID sufferers are at risk of experiencing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Dr. Swapna Mandal, a respiratory physician at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and lead researcher on the study, said: “Our results show very clearly that among those for whom we provided post-COVID care, some poor mental health during their recovery. ‘
“All health professionals involved in the care of those with a long COVID should be aware of this and should actively examine patients for symptoms, even those with mental health issues.”
In addition, studies conducted on patient groups that monitored COVID patients 21 days after diagnosis and 60 days after discharge showed that approximately 50% to 80% of patients still did not feel well until three months after they were first diagnosed. not, months after tests. longer detect a live virus in their bodies.
Some medical professions compare long-term COVID symptoms to those of myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome. A 2015 study by Kings College London on ME / CFS suggests that they are six times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
An upward struggle just to believe
Both those with long-distance symptoms and ME / CFS said that they not only struggle with dealing with symptoms, but also being believed by their peers and loved ones.
Lauren Nichols contracted COVID in March 2020 and has since dealt with long-distance symptoms of brain fog and forgetfulness, along with the inability to do more than one thing at a time.
She told the New York Times in January that she had considered suicide because friends, family and even her doctor did not believe she was still ill.
The desire to be believed is a key issue for Denise Kelley, a 29-year-old from Massachusetts, who said she was “constantly on the verge of having a downfall” because no one would believe her. She told Insider that she had been active in the past and liked to go to the gym, but that she ‘had not left a room for almost a month’, due to constant brain fog, after COVID was diagnosed in January.
“You feel so alone, and no one seems to understand why you can’t function,” she said. “I’m not lazy. I’m struggling with something I can not really comprehend or process about it.”
A ray of hope
Christine Moutier, the medical officer of the American Suicide Prevention Foundation, told Insider that ‘encouraging’ numbers regarding suicide rates are being reported in the US.
‘While suicide risk factors such as anxiety, social isolation, economic stress and suicidal thoughts are the case
increased during the pandemic, it is important that everyone understands that the risk of suicide is complex and
protective factors also play a powerful role, “Moutier said.
“Although we do not yet have national suicide rates for the full year 2020, early data from Florida, Massachusetts, Utah and Hawaii show that overall suicide rates have declined or seen no change in 2020 compared to the previous year.”
Some COVID long-distance riders have found ways to cope: online groups on social media platforms like Facebook.
Beth Lilla-Idrogo, 50, of Texas, told Insider that the COVID support group she joined in her diagnosis in January was helping her deal with some of the symptoms she was experiencing – including palpitations, inflammation, hearing changes and include brain fog.
“The group helps because I know I’m not alone. I read the drugs others tried and things that helped, and give them a chance,” she said.
For others, these online groups are a source of emotional support.
“I do not know anyone personally who suffers from COVID symptoms, and seeing how many others have the same symptoms helps me validate my own. It actually happens: I do not respond or I do not think about it,” Catherine said. . Nilson, 35, who lives in Pennsylvania and was diagnosed with COVID in December last year.
Nilson, who is a member of a COVID support group for long-term businesses for women, added that the group helped her link some of the symptoms she was experiencing, such as excessive thirst, to a manifestation after COVID – something her doctor helped and warned them to carry out the tests they needed.
“Luckily I have a strong support system and I only take things a day and I try to stay positive that things will improve,” she said.