Emotional struggle and loss for long Covid sufferers

“I always was a fairly confident person, always had big responsible jobs which I sort of thrived on stress and all the rest of it.

“Now, I just feel like I’m a little old lady. I don’t have any confidence at all… I’m just a shadow of who I used to be, I’ve gone very withdrawn.”

NCDS participant discussing her long Covid experience

New research based on NCDS, and five other studies following people of different generations, has highlighted the emotional toll of experiencing long Covid. Sufferers reported experiencing disruption in identity, difficulties planning for the future, and a loss of a sense of self.

What is long Covid?

Long Covid is a long-term health condition which can result from a Covid-19 infection. The most common symptoms that sufferers report include fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness, pain, and loss of smell, taste and sight. It can also cause more serious damage to the lungs, heart and kidneys.

Speaking to 80 people, including NCDS participants, researchers examined the impact of living with this chronic physical health condition on people’s sense of identity. They found that long Covid can disrupt people’s sense of self, changing how they see their place in the world and leading to feelings of loss.

What we asked you

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we carried out three online surveys to find out how Covid-19 was affecting your lives. This included asking you if you had experienced long Covid symptoms.

We asked some of you who had identified as suffering from long Covid to take part in some additional in-depth research, conducted by a team at UCL and the University of York.

These researchers conducted interviews with those of you who agreed to participate. They asked questions about how your illness started, how your symptoms impacted your day-to-day lives, and how long Covid had changed you

What the research found

Long Covid sufferers reported facing different types of personal challenges. These included:

• changes to sense of self
• difficulties in creating a new identity
• disconnection from past lives and your future
• emotional pain related to not being able to participate fully in life.

Long Covid disrupts normal life as symptoms stop people from doing the things they used to. People from your generation said it had thrown family and social lives, as well as plans for retirement, into disorder. 

“Before I had [long Covid], I was working as a social worker, two young children, physically active, I was involved with various groups and, and suddenly I could do nothing. None of that. So everything, everything by which I defined myself was taken away.”

NCDS participant describing how long Covid had changed his day-to-day life

Why this research matters

Thanks to your evidence, researchers are improving their understanding of what it is like to live with long Covid. This information can help create supportive measures that can improve the lives of those experiencing the condition.

Read the full research report

‘I am just a shadow of who I used to be’—Exploring existential loss of identity among people living with chronic conditions of Long COVID was published in Sociology of Health & Illness in June 2023.