The Long Journey of Covid and Mental Health

When the novel coronavirus took over the world, like a storm early in 2020, we hardly expected that 18 months later it would still be a thorn in our sides! When vaccines were rolled out globally, people saw light at the end of the tunnel, allowing us a brief glimpse of what was once normal - going back to school, seeing family and not wearing a mask indoors. With the rise of new variants and cases leading into a second year of the pandemic, the excitement has been short lived. It looks like the end of the storm is nowhere in sight.

How do we stay sane amidst all this uncertainty? Numerous studies reported an increase in symptoms of anxiety or depression in December, up 11% from the previous year. Another found that the front line workers and students experienced much greater stress, anxiety, and depression than others. Moreover, poor mental health can lead to a weakened immune system, rendering us more vulnerable to catching the sneaky and insidious virus. In addition, there is the compounded effect of long Covid on mental health, with data and stories of increased risk of depression, anxiety, strokes and long term cognitive impairment.

We cannot predict the end of either of these pandemics. All we can do is take care of ourselves, and keep focused on improving our mental health and wellbeing. There are multiple new online mental health apps to help with keeping mentally strong, offering therapy, tips, and mental well being exercises. Use them! They are available, affordable and offer great support and help.

To measure how well these apps are working, try using the Behavidence app and check if your daily Mental Health Similarity Scores improves or not, that way you know if it was time, money and effort well spent!

With Behavidence, you can get daily Mental Health Similarity Scores for ADHD, Anxiety and Depression based on real time data. Choose the best coping method by keeping track of your score over time and use our journaling tool to see how therapy, sleep, food, exercise and life events impact your score.

Download the app here.