The risk of COVID might have lessened, but long COVID remains a worry for many people. Researchers are looking for risk factors for long COVID, and depression may just be one.

A possible marker for the risk of developing long COVID.

Key points

  • The risk of developing long COVID is low, but the consequences can be severe.

  • Pre-existing conditions like anxiety, depression and loneliness can all increase risk.

  • The role of depression and other psychological issues in long COVID is worthy of further investigation.

Depression and your immune system

One of these comorbidities that appears to increase the risk of long COVID is depression. It might seem somewhat odd that a problem associated with having long COVID is also a predictor of long COVID, but there is good reason to suspect that depression might be an important precursor. That is because clinical depression, even without the added complication of COVID, can and does impair the functioning of the immune system. It makes sense that a virus that compromises the immune system might have a more lasting effect on the body if that immune system is already weakened by depression.