Can a virus affect your mental state?

[vitahelp]

About 6 weeks ago my eye started twitching and carried on for about 2 weeks. Then came a cold as I expected which went on for about a week. But for the past 3 weeks since then I haven’t felt right. The cold seems to have lingered to some extent and I have good and bad days where the symptoms return but at a low level so I have carried on working etc.
Today I feel quite notably ill again with blocked nose and tight raw feeling in my chest. The difficult part is I’m feeling mentally unwell this week as well. I’ve started having panic attacks after 13 years of not having one and I today I just feel overwhelmed like I can’t cope with anything and a sense of dread. I’ve cried a few times today which isn’t like me. I feel like a completely different person.

Could it be the virus which is affecting my mental state? Has anyone ever experienced this?

Yes definitely. Covid etc has an impact on mental well-being and can make people feel very low spirits. Look after yourself x

Yes it is well documented, I’m having the same thing since covid a few weeks ago

I felt like this when I had Covid. It was one of the first symptoms, a sense of looming dread. It came and went for quite a few weeks, I felt like I was having 'relapses' every so often.

Yes, I felt like this a few weeks ago before/while I had what I’m pretty sure was Covid. Just felt utterly miserable in myself but couldn’t really put my finger on why, even made a list to see if I could figure out what was the matter! Recovered now and feel back to my usual self.

As someone that has been medicated for depression and anxiety for 32 years, I would say yes it can. However, a dose of flu (yes I've had real flu) or any other virus that leaves you not only feeling run down but physically run down, will of course effect your MH... In the short term.
Twitchy eyes are a sign of stress, so it looks like you were susceptible to getting poorly anyway.

I'm not including long Covid with this, but will include normal Covid that I've had 3 times. I had flu all over Christmas and New Year last year for the 2nd time in my adult life aged 50. I didn't see a soul for over a week. I was prepped with bottles of water, paracetamol and my normal meds in reach of my bed and that was that.

I'm not dismissing anything, but when you've been on a MH roller-coaster for 40 years, you know the difference between run down and feeling low to - if I'm not on these meds I'm suicidal.

Life sucks.

Yes it's very common if you had covid. and can also happen with some other infections.

Thank you everyone for the replies. I’m still not sure if it is just coincidence that I’m feeling so down and anxious while I’ve had this long illness. I’m afraid that I’m going into a bad panic phase like I’ve had in the past but clinging onto hope that if all relates to the illness and that once I’ve shaken it off I’ll feel a lot better mentally.

Covid seems to particularly have had this impact on me. Ive had it at least 4 confirmed times now and everytime it has triggered panic attacks and increase in anxiety. Blood tests I had done showed that there has been changes in my thyroid results post virally which they think may be linked. Eventually it resolves.

Thanks for sharing @Nyancat it’s hard to imagine feeling normal again now and I’m worried I’m clutching at straws by blaming it on the virus. I hope if does go away along with the virus though.

I definitely experienced this when I had COVID. More than once. Wasn’t sure whether the panic induced by the virus updates on tv news etc was a contributing factor….

You need to initially rest. Go slow. Try and just ‘be’ in the present moment. You have gone back to work and tried to resume normal when you are still ill. You haven’t recovered physically and potentially mentally from many years ago.

I’m not an expert but I’ve read a lot about anxiety and panic and I learnt that is felt in our bodies and often masks underlying feelings of fear shame and loneliness. They are coping mechanisms you developed at some point to avoid difficult feelings. Look up internal family systems as that has the concept of the ‘Manager’ and the ‘firefighter’. After a while these two coping mechanisms stop working especially when we get older / midlife.

The virus will have made you feel very low and the longer it’s gone on the more you are struggling to cope as you would normally. To some extent it’s all circular - your immune system gets more compromised and run down the longer we repress and hold on to difficult feelings. Breath work and being able to name the feelings that sit underneath the anxiety and panic and then allow them space to just be. You will notice with a daily breathing / meditation practice over time they start to move through you and don’t hang around. The thing is none of us like the discomfort of these feelings but they are part of us. The harder you resist them and push them away they will find a way to explode back out. However by sitting with them and just observing them they will slowly start to move through. I would look at work that focuses on mindfulness meditation and also movement that helps the nervous system recover. Somatic movement is also good. Panic look at grounding yourself.

be kind to yourself and listen to what you really need.

I had this when I had an undiagnosed chest infection so do check with a Dr if you continue to feel unwell

Both times I had Covid, the first symptom was anxiety and a feeling of dread. Physical symptoms started a day or so later.

Yes. Ive noticed before I come down with a virus, I will feel a bit mentally unstable, its a weird/horrible feeling.
I thought it was just me before I read this.

With covid its often caused by neuro inflammation triggered by the virus.