Depressive and anxiety symptoms in individuals with Long-COVID: Does social network matter? – Results of a…, 2026, Gerhards, Büchner, Schomerus et al.

[Chandelier]

Depressive and anxiety symptoms in individuals with Long-COVID: Does social network matter? – Results of a German Long-COVID study

Spoiler: Authors

Gerhards, S.K.; Luppa, M.; Zülke, A.; Sander, C.; Schomerus, G.; Buechner, R.; Wirkner, K.; Reusche, M.; Zeynalova, S.; Lehmann, J.; Baber, R.; Obrig, H.; Herzig, S.; Thöne-Otto, A.; Witte, A.V.; Villringer, A.; Fricke, C.; Bergh, F. Then; Saur, D.; Schroeter, M.L.; Löffler, M.; Engel, C.; Riedel-Heller, S.G.

Highlights​

• Living with others was linked to fewer depressive symptoms in adults with Long COVID
• A larger social network was associated with lower anxiety symptoms in people affected with Long COVID
• Social factors may play a protective role in the mental health of Long COVID patients

Abstract​

Background​

Some patients previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 develop symptoms that are summarized under the term Long COVID (LC). There is limited evidence on how social characteristics influence depressive and anxiety symptoms in adults with LC.

Methods​

Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Anxiety symptoms were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7).

The living situation (alone vs. with someone) was assessed by a single question. The social network was assessed using the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS). Multivariate regression analysis was performed.

Results​

In n = 410 participants with LC (mean age = 47.12, SD = 12.24) from Leipzig, Germany, we found that living with others was associated with fewer depressive symptoms compared to living alone (B = -2.18, p = .011). A larger social network was associated with fewer anxiety symptoms in adults with LC symptoms (IRR = 0.99, p = .008).

Conclusion​

Social factors, such as social network and living situation, are associated with mental health factors like depressive and anxiety symptoms in adults with LC. Further research is required in order to elucidate the complex interplay between social factors and mental health in people with LC in the context of longitudinal studies. Future research directions are discussed.

Web | DOI | Journal of Affective Disorders | Paywall

 

[rvallee]

It's both very depressive but maybe somewhat hopeful just how wide the gap in ability to understand exists between health care professionals and LLMs. It's not even close. Because despite the name, language models aren't about language, they're about understanding. Frankly this is all relatively easy to figure out, it only takes listening to a few dozen patient histories to get the gist of it, how so much of this is pure chance, how everyone with chronic illness loses almost all our social networks, and how much of this is obviously a function of how disabled we are. Because they 100% want it to be the wrong way around, and will never accept that it's not, no matter how ostentatious the data might get.

Seriously centuries of clinical psychology research would still yield absolutely zero useful insights on the lived reality of illness, at least not in a usable format. And yet you could plug in any of the top 10 LLMs right now and they could literally teach the material to those academics.

So it's kind of hopeful in that, thank all the freaking gods, excessive human biases and lack of empathy will be removed from the loop. It will finally be possible to gain useful understanding and apply relevant solutions because this is just totally embarrassing. It's by far the lowest level of performance that is humanly possible in a context where smart people have the time to figure things out and yet can never get anywhere close. Anything they ever get close to they always flip the direction around, and so end up as perfectly far away from understanding as it gets.

Turns out math is way easier to figure out than subjective life experience. People have been doing advanced math for centuries and just now AI is becoming better at it, but humans have never actually managed to even get started understanding experience significantly outside of their own, simply because they can choose to ignore or distort the context. It will be completely transformative, because frankly almost all current mental health research and knowledge could be thrown in the trash and we would barely lose anything. I have never seen people so embarrassingly lost and yet so incapable of seeing it, despite having all the tools, time and resources they need for it. Clearly this is simply beyond human abilities.