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Original poster

To think having covid messes with you psychologically?

58 replies

Hatsuma · 18/09/2021 20:22

I am out of isolation today having had covid, and I feel shell-shocked, like I’ve been through an ordeal that I can’t really put into words.

A friend caught it at the same time and so we’ve been talking every day, and he feels the same. It’s been completely different to having any other virus, although physically the symptoms were no worse than a bad cold or flu, it’s just been gruelling getting through it.

I think for me it was every day just feeling the exact same, too feeble to get out of bed to get a drink, my head pounding, loss of smell and taste, confused and dizzy. It really felt like it would never end, with other viruses usually there’s some kind of change for better or worse day to day but this was a solid week of just feeling exactly the same, and then it lifted.

Both my friend and I have had some really dark moments mentally with it. My low point was I think Wednesday night when I woke up from a nightmare which triggered my PTSD in a way that hasn’t happened for years, and meant I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. I’ve had a lot of weird/vivid/bad dreams since I got ill. With other viruses I’ve had, I’ve known that I am physically fucked but my brain has been happy to just wait for my body to recover, but it really felt like covid got into my head too.

Am I talking complete cobblers or does covid affect your mind as well as your body? I’m not sure I’ve explained it too well, like I say it’s hard to find the right words.

OP posts:
GivenchyDahhling · 18/09/2021 20:31

When I had COVID, then both nights after I had my vaccines, I had these absolutely awful “dreams” (for want of a better word) where basically everything I was worried/stressed about was racing through my head at a million miles an hour and I felt I was being completely swallowed by this overwhelming to do list that I would never accomplish. This seemed to go on for hours and hours and really screwed with me when I was awake the next day.

bearlyactive · 18/09/2021 20:33

@GivenchyDahhling

When I had COVID, then both nights after I had my vaccines, I had these absolutely awful “dreams” (for want of a better word) where basically everything I was worried/stressed about was racing through my head at a million miles an hour and I felt I was being completely swallowed by this overwhelming to do list that I would never accomplish. This seemed to go on for hours and hours and really screwed with me when I was awake the next day.
I had the exact same thing, but not when I had COVID, just in the nights after both my vaccines. Strange that you've put into words exactly what I had!
SmallProvincial · 18/09/2021 20:35

Weird...me too with the spooling, stress, to do list dreams after the vaccines.

FTEngineerM · 18/09/2021 20:36

Me and DP also found it mentally difficult too. Which is odd because this year we’ve got every respiratory illness that’s been about but only covid made us feel this way.

OddBoots · 18/09/2021 20:38

I was also diagnosed on the 7th and just posted on another thread about not having many symptoms but I forgot to mention the dreams, yes there were some bad dream nights which I haven't had since pregnancy many years ago.

Orangejuicemarathoner · 18/09/2021 20:39

but its not a normal virus. Its a new virus, it has killed hundreds of thousands, its long term effects are very unclear, and it has rocked our economy to the core.

Whatever else it does to you physically, knowing all that is going to impact on you psychologically, surely

Athinginitself · 18/09/2021 20:42

Yep I felt that it affected me quite badly psychologically, felt very anxious, very confused. It was a very strange surreal time. I do think my oxygen levels were relatively low though which might have contributed (hovering aroind 92 for a couple of weeks and I was very breathless) but even after that had improved I didn't feel right mentally for a while and still not physically now but that's another story.

FTEngineerM · 18/09/2021 20:42

But I knew all those things before I caught it @Orangejuicemarathoner

TheGrumpyGoat · 18/09/2021 20:43

It didn’t make me feel like that, I almost felt relieved that I had it and it wasn’t all that bad. I had a cough for 12 weeks afterwards though and that affected me more as I couldn’t bloody sleep properly for 12 weeks.

TheVolturi · 18/09/2021 20:46

Yes I get you! I currently have covid, only tested positive on Wed. But suspect I was positive from Monday as i didn't feel right. Had a rough couple of days and I know that the vaccinated should be fine blah blah blah but it's still a massive worry. I think it's because it's been this huge thing that we've been trying to avoid for so long, early last year we thought if we got it we might actually die. So then now here we are going through it and it's scary. I've been in such a horrible mood, because I've felt so crap but had to carry on (with young dc to look after) and dh also positive, he's older and has health issues so I've had to let him rest. I can't wait for it to be over, I will be so grateful to make it through unscathed. I've not had any weird dreams yet, but I have been struggling to sleep. Mind racing.

Bunnycat101 · 18/09/2021 20:47

It did some weird things to me. I was very emotional in the early stages of covid and after my second vaccine.

MushMonster · 18/09/2021 20:48

I think it can very much mess up with your mind, for many reasons actually.
There is a physical link between the immune system and the nervous system. It was found not so long ago and published. So, you have more chances to get sick when sad or stressed, or the other way around. Like in Jane Austen's books.
Also, long covid includes brain fog as a symptom.
Your body does not know this virus, so it is a maximum red alert, and your immune system can go ballistic on it, which will take a lot of energy and effort, so you will feel it.
And it could be that the virus does affect some receptors or other things in the brain itself. ACE2 receptor is really spread in the body. It has to do with many processes, not just the lungs. And there may be some effects that have not been measured yet in our bodies.
Also, the genetic factor. Some people are badly affected by this illness, and we are not sure yet why.
Plus, we are all stressed and scared about covid. It has changed everybody's life. We constantly hear of the deaths upon deaths. So having it will trigger a fear and emotional response, adding to the coctail.
Glad that you are recovered OP. Take care of yourself.

RoseAndGeranium · 18/09/2021 20:48

Yes, I found this. For me, it was partly that I'd think I was getting a bit better but then I'd get quite a bit worse again. I found that very demoralising and (since I was ill during the first wave when death rates were very high, the hospitals were all full, and there were no treatment options to speak of) also quite frightening. I also suffered badly from insomnia in a way I never have with, say, flu or a bacterial infection. Usually when my temperature is very high I just fall asleep, but with COVID I'd be awake most of the night, desperate to sleep but unable to drop off. It was like I was really wired. Couldn't nap during the day, either. Absolutely horrible.

Athinginitself · 18/09/2021 20:55

@RoseAndGeranium

Yes, I found this. For me, it was partly that I'd think I was getting a bit better but then I'd get quite a bit worse again. I found that very demoralising and (since I was ill during the first wave when death rates were very high, the hospitals were all full, and there were no treatment options to speak of) also quite frightening. I also suffered badly from insomnia in a way I never have with, say, flu or a bacterial infection. Usually when my temperature is very high I just fall asleep, but with COVID I'd be awake most of the night, desperate to sleep but unable to drop off. It was like I was really wired. Couldn't nap during the day, either. Absolutely horrible.
Yeah I think my experience was definitely affected by getting it just before the first lockdown when all there was were scenes from Italy and Wuhan, I felt very alone and like there were no options for treatment or support despite feeling the worst I've ever felt in my life, I felt like I couldn't ask for help unless I collapsed which in retrospect is ridiculous but at the time felt very logical. A very odd time.
Original poster
Hatsuma · 18/09/2021 21:01

YY to feeling exhausted and needing to sleep but feeling wired, mind racing and with restless legs. Horrible.

OP posts:
Wonkydonkey44 · 18/09/2021 21:02

I am on day 14 now , the dreams were the worst . I couldn't seem to get any deep sleep and perpetually just in light sleep so every noise etc woke me.
My mind was racing I had to go to the loo for a wee all the time .
Terrified I will catch it again Confused

Nowhereelsetogo90 · 18/09/2021 21:10

I’m on day 9 and I’ve felt similar to this, very anxious and unsure and the feeling that it will never end even though logically I know it will!

AppleBlossomTimeNow · 18/09/2021 21:19

I felt like my brain had been scrambled. I couldn't think straight & felt very foggy, fatigued & anxious. Very strange.

blueshoes · 18/09/2021 21:20

I caught it just after the first lockdown. Recall coughing and feeling dead tired, alternately hot and cold, but don't recall my mind racing. Just needed to rest and sleep.

LittleOwl153 · 18/09/2021 21:27

Day 15 here. Physical symptoms limited to a bad cold and general overtiredness, but I think I'm seeing the mental impacts as we return to "normal" more. Being almost scared to go out and feeling very 'out of it' whilst out. Almost as if I was in a bubble going round sainsburys! Still disconnected in someway.

Foghead · 18/09/2021 21:28

I felt better psychologically once I got covid and it wasn’t too bad. I remember feeling extremely anxious last year as the dcs were in and out of school. I was dreading them getting it. I mean really dreading it.
I was going a bit mad. I made them get changed straight away when they came home, wash their hands and face with soap and even gargle with listerine.
I felt relieved once we got it. It wasn’t plain sailing at all but we managed to recover at home.
I felt quite calm.

Knitsewthread · 18/09/2021 21:29

I think there's a massive extra stress or anxiety of lying there with this thing that we've heard about non stop for 18 months and how it's hospitalising and killing people. It's scary, even if your symptoms are mild.

It's the not knowing if and how it's going to progress or worsen.

I also thing there's the extra burden of isolating which can make you feel trapped - with other illnesses you can decide when you feel up to going out again and could ask someone to pop over to help you if needed.

There also seems to be such an emphasis on when people caught it - test and tracers asked where I felt my son caught it, as have lots of people I know. Which can feel a little like apportioning blame and, on the flip side, leave people with a sense of guilt?

A lot of emotions to contend with alongside potentially feeling really poorly.

Blueeilidh · 18/09/2021 21:29

I think that yes it can affect you mentally but I also don't think it is the only virus or illness that does and isn't the only virus that can have several bad days before any improvement.

Blueeilidh · 18/09/2021 21:32

Although the fact that people have been affected by it so drastically over the past 18 months does give it a uniqueness in how it affects you mentally when you are diagnosed with it.

Catchthepigeons · 18/09/2021 21:35

If it can stop you tasting or smelling by altering things in your brain, I'm sure it can have a myriad of other effects on it too.

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