POST COVID DEPRESSION: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The most common symptoms of coronavirus disease are fever, cough, shortness of breath, muscle pain, headache, diarrhea, rhinorrhea, loss of smell and taste. In addition, there are more and more reports of mental health problems in people who have survived SARS-CoV-2 infection. The most frequently described mental disorders are major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) and insomnia. MDD is hypothesized to be an active inflammatory process with elevated pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress. Depression is a leading cause of disability globally. Accordingly, depressive symptoms and clinically-significant depression in post-COVID-19 syndrome may have severe implications as it relates to quality-of-life outcomes. There is also a lack of comprehensive studies directly linking MDD and its biomarkers to COVID-19. Furthermore, it remains to be determined whether the high frequency of depression among individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome is a long-term consequence of the viral infection or a result of the social and/or economic outcomes of the pandemic. Keywords: Corona virus; Depression; Post Covid; Major Depressive Episode