Session on Post-COVID Syndrome during Psychiatry Congress
From Wednesday March 29 to Friday March 31, 2023 it was 51e spring conference of the Dutch Association of Psychiatry (NVvP) in the MECC in Maastricht. More than 2.500 psychiatrists met here to exchange knowledge and experiences. The conference was marked by the opening by Her Majesty Queen Máxima. And in addition, the public expression of regret by the NVvP to the LHBTI+ community about the suffering that has been inflicted on them in the past, based on the conviction that it is a psychiatric illness for which they should be treated.
Session on Post-COVID Syndrome
On Friday 31 March, a session was held in the afternoon on COVID-19 and psychiatry: from acute phase to long-term effects, chaired by psychiatrist Daphne Everaerd, affiliated with the Radboud Medical Center in Nijmegen. Our medical advisor and general practitioner Dr. Sara Biere-Rafi and Prof. Dr. Jean WM Muris, general practitioner affiliated with Maastricht University, provided information on Long COVID/post-COVID syndrome as speakers.
ignorance
There is still a lot of unfamiliarity among various healthcare providers involved in patients with post-COVID syndrome. In total, more than 200 complaints have been described arising from various organ systems that can occur with post-COVID syndrome. On average, people often have 10-15 complaints that persist for a long time after having had corona. In addition to the many physical complaints, there are also (neuro)psychiatric complaints, such as anxiety, depression, memory and concentration problems and difficulty with stimulus processing that occur after post-COVID syndrome. There are already several indications of neuroinflammation as a possible cause for the persistent cognitive complaints. But the many limitations in daily functioning, the lack of perspective on recovery, lack of understanding from the environment, unfamiliarity among various parties involved and the lack of effective treatment do not promote the mental health of patients with post-COVID syndrome.
Based on preliminary data from our longitudinal study, attention was paid to the bottlenecks in the healthcare landscape, in addition to the disabling symptomatology, such as exercise intolerance and orthostatic intolerance. Problems that patients encounter, hypotheses about possible pathophysiological mechanisms and attention to the lack of treatment options. The longitudinal study is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Public Health of the Erasmus Medical Center.
The presentations given in conjunction with the lively discussion and input from the daily practice of psychiatrists from the audience made for an educational afternoon.
More scientific research
During this congress the conclusion was again that much more scientific research into post-infectious diseases is needed so that appropriate care becomes available for these patients with often very disabling complaints.
