The 4 main psychological effects of COVID-19

COVID-19 is, above all, a disease with symptoms of an organic nature and that are addressed from the field of medicine; however, it should not be overlooked that practically all diseases capable of affecting quality of life in this way or even causing death in the worst cases also have the capacity to generate significant psychological alterations. And this is no exception.

For this reason, it is important to know, albeit roughly, the type of emotional, cognitive and behavioral changes that COVID-19 can generate in us; anticipating them helps to manage them and to obtain the appropriate help in each case. So, here we will give a quick review of the psychological effects of COVID-19 , taking into account that they do not have to appear in all people who have developed this disease.

What are the most important psychological effects of COVID-19?

Due to its very nature, COVID-19 is not known to be a disease that directly gives rise to psychological alterations; The closest thing to a change of this type that is known is the affectation of smell due to the way in which the virus can affect the parts of the central nervous system responsible for processing this sense.

However, COVID-19 can facilitate psychological changes in a more indirect way, due to the way in which it affects lifestyle, the contexts to which the person is exposed, and expectations . Let's see it.

1. It can lead to obsessive self-checking patterns

Whether we like it or not, our perception of COVID-19 is generally not calm, serene, or purely rational; It is highly influenced by the way in which the media has told us about this disease in recent months, the urban legends and myths that are already circulating about it, etc. In many cases its dangerousness has been exaggerated or completely erroneous beliefs have been given wings.

For this reason, not a few people with COVID-19 internalize the pattern of behavior of self-checking their own health, either trying to go to the doctor many times or looking in the mirror a lot, paying close attention to certain symptoms and feeling them more intensely because of it, etc. It is a phenomenon similar to hypochondriasis , but in most cases it is not so serious as to be considered a psychopathology.

2. Social isolation

Many people with COVID-19 feel the need to take very extreme measures to isolate themselves socially and minimize the risk of contagion , which sometimes backfires because it damages their own mental health more than it protects others from real danger.

3. Causes concentration and memory problems

A significant portion of people with COVID-19 show problems concentrating on tasks or remembering things, although these cognitive impairments are not permanent and in the vast majority of cases they fade within a few weeks, just like the rest of the population. symptom. It is believed that it is due to the psychological overload of adapting to those days of coping with COVID-19, and not due to the direct effects of the virus, although little is still known about this phenomenon.

4. May lead to psychological disorders

In the most extreme cases, the discomfort triggered by COVID-19 can take the form of a true psychological disorder, that is, a diagnosable psychopathology that appears in diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-5. Among them, it has been observed that the most common among those who have gone through the coronavirus disease are anxiety disorders, insomnia, major depression and/or post-traumatic stress. In addition, these pathologies can overlap each other, occurring several at the same time (for example, depression usually goes hand in hand with anxiety problems, too).

Now, it should be noted that the majority of cases of COVID-19, especially after the first months of the pandemic, are mild and moderate , with relatively little probability of having a sufficient psychological impact to cause the appearance of one of these disorders. Not only because they do not generate much pain or discomfort directly, but because hospitalizations are not necessary, the person is much less exposed to stressful situations and that are out of the ordinary in their day to day life.