Pre-existing Psychiatric Disorders and Long COVID -- Is there a link? What does it Mean?

Vinay Prasad, MD MPH; Physician & Professor
Hematologist/ Oncologist
Professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Medicine
Author of 450+ Peer Reviewed papers, 2 Books, 2 Podcasts, 100+ op-eds.

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Twitter @vprasadmdmph

[warrenandandreasanluis]

This reminds me so much of the patients I used to treat. As a physical therapist, I treated chronic pain. Their pain was based on a narrative that included their past experiences, mental state, and what physicians told them they should be feeling. It rarely was related to anything physically happening with their bodies. I wish physicians would be more careful with how they communicate to patients!

[californiasun]

It’s hard to wrap your head around all this stuff most people don’t even hear about it thanks for all the hard work you do every day.

[missjanetmb]

Does any one else just love when VP drops his voice and says something like “so we’re gonna look at this paper…” I totally lean in.

[juliafox]

I remember a dentist telling me that I was imagining a problem in my tooth. (I told him I was in so much pain that I no longer registered pain, but that I could tell by how short my memory was. I also am allergic to all pain killers/pharmaceuticals Ivr ever tried and insisted on the procedure without anesthesia as I've not responded well in the past.) He made sure to be as rough as possible to prove that I was simply masochistic and had tried to insist on sending me to a psychiatrist. He told me the pain was all in my head. (I told him he was right on all counts.) He finally got inside my mouth to look at the (mercury) filling and all of a sudden his demeanor changed. He said he couldn't believe I was not screaming with pain at how bad the filling was leaking and the cavity had grown. He removed the filling and replaced it. He never apologized, but he stopped insisting that the pain was something I was simply imagining for attention or some sick pleasure at the pain. It took me a bit to get over his roughness with my mouth, but I became almost instantly light years better before even leaving his office. Never went back. He was a psychopathic jerk who refused to believe what I was telling him. Thankfully he did fix the tooth and I've had no problems since.

In other words, because my experience was outside of his experience or understanding, he was more than happy to be dismissive and gaslight me. Thankfully, he was greedy enough to take my money to do the procedure and skilled enough to solve what I went to him to do.

[hmbdata]

News and social media scaring the shit out of everyone for the past 3 years has to be a factor. Add neuroticism x TV exposure x political ideology = long-covid.

[Karma-fpho]

A bit off topic but Dr Campbell reported that the UK will stop boosting anyone under 50 on Feb 12. Hopefully Canada will do the same Soon.

[Angel-yzgt]

Love it Vinay!! Thank you, as always, for your time, effort and brain:)

[larahuffmaster]

I had Covid in May of 2020.
All I can tell you is I've NEVER had the flu give me 5 months of heart palpitations, sudden onset of GERD, persistent high blood pressure and body flushing for 5 months.
Thank God I finally got over it. It was rough!
May you not find out the hard way, Dr. Prasad.

[michaeltrumper]

Reading the Great Inlfuenza it covers accounts of similar psychosomatic issues. Prolonged stress and fear can have that effect.

[Naynay]

I had the crud19 had medium symptoms from February 28- March 6 2020. Lost my sense of taste and smell until October 2022. Scared me, thought I had dementia. Then for these two years I had to reidentify smells and taste, it sucks. I regained my senses but they are different and the headaches subsided after learning about and applying dandelion leaf tincture, turkey tail mushroom and golden seal root . I also take high dose vit.c daily as I have a lot of scar tissue in my abdomen due to surgeries.
Don't know if you call that longcovid. But I'm still not a 100%. As a un_vaccinated individual I have just avoided the clown show. I tested positive 3 times at home during this time, we have grands so it was inevitable. That is life. No I don't wear a mask. So I stay home. I need a check up and some blood work ....but Needless to say, I'm 62, I am not stupid. Very thankful to be self-educated, I been living in this tent 'body' a long time all by myself, taking good care of myself. I eat clean home grown produce, real home cooked meals. My husband and I of 43:years take no prescription drug's. None. I do need to go for a check up. But I'm not... all it takes is one Doctor to berate and demean in front of your daughter. Why? Politics? Calling me an antivaxxer, the man totally won the bonehead jerk of the week award. I don't want to go back, I'm sorry how can you trust medical tyrants, ...

[cactuscanine]

Long COVID has been around for 20-30 years, we just called it chronic fatigue syndrome.

[ChrisCapoccia]

At the same time as it is important to have this broad review of populations, it's also important that individuals seeking help for their individual post-Covid symptoms are able to find docs who will listen and help that individual recover and it's important that people have empathy for those around them and don't just dismiss post Covid as being all in their head

[darinsingleton]

It's hard to assess these kinds of issues because of our current infatuation with Victim's Olympics that plays out across this country; the much prized, special, social-currency accrued from being seen as having a "special" difficulty or disadvantage.
It seems that ahistorically, we are invested in conditioning public citizens to be more emotionally & mentally fragile - generally, so that these folks can be sold a pill, or some other solution to the ever-escalating afflictions which beset them. As with almost everything these days, there is usually a corporate-bottom line at the bottom of it.

[Kaliashdevi]

This information has come as a great relief to me. I'm a retired psychotherapist that was in mental health for 32-years in London. For ten years, I knew a highly intelligent big-hearted 50-year old man that had an addiction to alcohol binges, but could go a year or so without having one drink. He contracted a very bad flu at the end of 2019. Because he was managing an exclusive hotel, he was forced to get the V even though I strongly advised him not to. But he had a family to support and felt too old to start again, having invested everything in his business. From then on, his personality began to change and 9-weeks after his second shot, he died of a sudden heart attack in my presence.

This happened after a gap of not seeing him for 2-years. I had met him again six weeks before his death and noticed a marked change in his personality. It was if he was split; one aspect was his old endearing highly funny self and the other - a mentally rigid stranger. At that time, I was staying in his hotel because of medical treatment and needing physical care. His staff complained to me that he was becoming increasingly impatient. So I started pointing this out and because of his capacity to self reflect, instantly he would revert back to his old self. It was was if he was possessed and he agreed with this; 'something comes over me.'

From then on, I have been noticing personality changes in a number of people that have had the V's, this same split, a coldness at times bordering on ruthlessness (with everyone) that was not there before. In other words, it's as if they have lost their capacity to be compassionate, sensitive, generous, etc. There is also a marked difference in their ability to concentrate which is shown in their addiction to mobiles, an 'agitated depression.' In general, people say to me 'people are radically changing' in this way and yet they cannot see it happening in themselves.

[jeromemcnicholl]

Thank You for your intelligent synthesis.

[Closertotruth]

Love the channel VP. Please look at excess deaths and Ed Dowd’s research. Would be interested in your opinion.

[benjames]

Reminds me of MS being diagnosed as a psychiatric disease. Come on people

[davidrobinson]

Thanks Vinay. Love your content. And look, you earned yourself a youtube COVID (mis)information tag.

[fredlindberg]

Thank you, Vinay! I enjoy your oncology reviews even more.

[montanagal]

At my hospital if you say you have long covid, you get to "go out on disability" and get a percentage of your paycheck...in other words, you are encouraged to "have long covid"...