MINI REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1555370
Exploring the Psychological Impact of Long COVID: Symptoms, Mechanisms, and Treatments
Provisionally accepted
- Ningxia Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yinchuan, China
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Long COVID (LC) refers to a multisystem condition that persists after infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 . In addition to physical symptoms, the psychological impact is particularly pronounced. This review summarizes the manifestations, potential mechanisms, epidemiological characteristics, and current interventions related to psychological disorders in LC. Drawing on domestic and international literature, it highlights anxiety, depression, cognitive dysfunction, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the primary psychological symptoms. These symptoms may be associated with neuroinflammation, immune abnormalities, vascular dysfunction, and psychosocial stress. Although research in this area is still developing, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, neuromodulation, and lifestyle interventions show promise as treatment approaches. This review aims to provide insights that can inform future research on clinical treatments and psychological care for individuals with LC.
Keywords: Ningxia Natural Science Foundation: (No: 2024AAC03734) Long COVID, Psychological symptoms, mechanisms, Epidemiology, Interventions
Received: 06 Jan 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhonglan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wu Zhonglan, Ningxia Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yinchuan, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.