Prolonged Mental Health Challenges After COVID-like Illness: Recovery Can Take Up to Nine Months

Recent research indicates that individuals experiencing COVID-like symptoms may recover physically within approximately three months post-infection. However, their journey to regain optimal mental well-being often extends much longer, with some taking up to nine months to fully recover. Remarkably, even a year after the initial illness, about 20% of participants continue to report diminished health-related quality of life, highlighting the persistent impact of COVID-19 on mental health.

The study, published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, analyzed the health outcomes of individuals who sought treatment for COVID-like symptoms between December 2020 and August 2022. Among these, 75% tested positive for COVID-19, while the remaining tested negative. Interestingly, those who tested positive were more likely to experience a return to high quality of life levels over the course of a year compared to their COVID-negative counterparts. This suggests that health authorities may have underestimated the long-term effects of other, non-COVID illnesses on overall well-being.

Lauren Wisk, an assistant professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and co-lead author of the study, explained that the findings reveal a clear distinction between physical and mental recovery phases. While physical health tends to bounce back within three months, mental health recovery tends to be more gradual, with significant improvements often occurring between six to nine months after infection. This underscores the importance for healthcare providers to focus on patients’ mental health needs during and after COVID-19 treatment.

The research was conducted under the INSPIRE registry, involving 4,700 participants with COVID-like symptoms. The participants responded to questions related to physical function, mental health, sleep, pain, social participation, and cognitive function. The study identified four categories of well-being: optimal overall health, mental health challenges, physical health issues, and poor overall health. Results showed that a substantial portion of participants continued to experience poor health outcomes, regardless of whether they tested positive or negative for COVID-19.

Although physical health improved notably within three months, mental health recovery was observed to take longer, improving significantly between six and nine months post-infection. Despite some recovery, approximately 20% of individuals still reported poor overall health a year after illness, with many likely experiencing long COVID symptoms.

The study also highlighted limitations, including potential inaccuracies in COVID testing results and difficulty in distinguishing conditions among COVID-negative participants. Further research is needed to develop better care models for those enduring long COVID and to address the long-term mental health impacts observed in many patients.

In conclusion, this study emphasizes that the journey to full recovery from COVID-19 extends beyond physical health, with mental health recovery potentially lasting up to nine months or more. Healthcare professionals should prioritize mental health support alongside physical treatment to improve long-term outcomes for patients.

[source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-people-covid-symptoms-months-infection.html]