Some people who caught Covid-19 in the early days are continuing to struggle with a health issue more than a year after having the virus. Researchers have discovered those who had coronavirus in the first wave have been found to be at greater risk of long-term depressive sypmtoms.
And while many can feel tired and struggling to think as clearly as they did before they were ill it has also found those who caught the virus early in the pandemic were more likely than those who didn't to have long-term problems with depression, anxiety, mental wellbeing and loneliness. Those who reported having Covid in early 2020 were 1.67 times more likely to display clinically meaningful levels of anxiety after 13 months, than those who avoided the virus in the same time period.
Led by Professor Daryl O’Connor and Dr Sarah Wilding of the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds, the researchers surveyed more than 3,000 UK adults, representing a cross-section of the general population. The study, published in Nature Scientific Reports, relied on participants self-reporting Covid-19, as limited testing was available at the beginning of the pandemic.
