“I Am Not the Same as I Was Before”: A Qualitative Analysis of COVID-19 Survivors 2022 Duan et al

Abstract

Background

Little is known about the illness experience of patients’ long-term emotional and physical recovery from severe COVID-19 infection. This study aimed to expand upon the recovery process of COVID-19 survivors up to 6 months after hospital discharge.

Methods
Qualitative analysis of free-response answers from a cohort study of 152 patients ≥ 18 years hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 surveyed at 1-month post hospital discharge and 6-months post hospital discharge. Responses were analyzed with a grounded theory approach to identify overarching themes.

Results
Participants described persistent complications, both physical and mental, that have affected their recovery from COVID-19. Five overarching themes of post-acute patient experiences were generated: (1) an increased awareness of a mind and body connection, (2) feelings of premature aging, (3) an overall decline in quality of life, (4) a continued fear of infection, and (5) methods of coping.

Conclusions
Patients described lasting changes to their mental health and overall quality of life in connection to physical complications after severe COVID-19 infection. Patients’ reports of their experience call for a greater awareness of the psychological aspects of COVID-19 recovery to provide both physical and psychological rehabilitation services. Additional resources such as education around re-infection and financial resources are needed.

Open access, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12529-022-10129-y

 

As I read this paper, I kept going back and forth. Is this the good or bad type of psychosocial research? I concluded it leans towards bad, because it neglects to say flat-out that long Covid is a real illness. I don't know if this is because the researchers just aren't focusing on that, or because they want to keep it ambiguous, but you can't have a productive discussion without saying that up front.

I think there are some good points though. It's important to acknowledge that severe illness has mental effects. A significant proportion of the suffering ME causes me is mental--probably 40%, with 30% being due to cognitive impairment and 10% being grief/loss and emotional suffering at missing out on things.

 

It's the bad kind. There is no need to ask the experience of illness because the experience of illness is known and it's bad. This is trying to deflect from the illness and onto identity and other useless stuff, putting as #1 the mind-body connection is a big tell that the researchers directed the conversation, because patients don't care about that and simply never volunteer it. And putting psychological rehabilitation as something the patients called for is just insulting, not even pretending they didn't direct the content.

It continues in the insane trend of "physicians baffled by concept of illness", but always the intent is simply to reattribute the illness onto the patient, to free the medical system of any responsibility. In itself it's absolutely useless. In context this is the same old compartmentalization away from standard medical care.