From an anonymous PhD student living with #LongCovid:

"Long Covid is absolutely terrifying and completely traumatising. Not knowing what was going on with my body for months on end was incredibly damaging to my mental health."

#AcademicChatter #PhDchat
1/16

"The first 6 mo were both the worst physical and mental health I’ve ever experienced and that simultaneously.

A lot of the mental struggle was due to the gaslighting and dismissal from medical professionals, and even friends, family and colleagues."

#LongCovid
2/16

"What has helped has been finding community among others affected e.g. in the @itsbodypolitic support group. Advice from the #MECFS community and other #disabled and chronically ill friends has also been invaluable."

#LongCovid #pwME
3/16

"Generally speaking, blocking news sites and those with covid numbers has also helped my mental health a lot – I didn’t need the extra anxiety and needed to focus on pacing and recovery."

#LongCovid #MentalHealth
4/16

"I feel a lot worse about my career prospects – I already had mental health difficulties before academia and am unconvinced I’ll finish my #PhD with my ongoing symptoms.

Even if I do, #academia doesn’t feel like a good place to be disabled."

#LongCovid
5/16

"I would like my supervisors to understand how debilitating #BrainFog can be and how producing academic work just can’t happen when symptoms are flaring up."

#LongCovid #AcademicChatter #PhDchat
6/16

"I have an extreme histamine intolerance since Covid and can’t handle coffee and most foods I would usually rely on during the working day; I need to recover after I have a shower or doing chores or any exertion."

#LongCovid #AcademicChatter #PhDchat
7/16

"I’ve only really felt supported and understood by other disabled students and academics or those academics who have experience of chronic illness among their family/friends."

#LongCovid
8/16

"It’s also been hugely distressing receiving sympathetic messages from people who have read about my LC experience but then go on to take dramatic risks related to Covid suggesting they haven’t understood at all."

#LongCovid
9/16

"I was given no specific support related to Long Covid other than being able to take sick leave, some of which was unpaid because I ran out of sick pay within the calendar year."

#LongCovid #AcademicChatter #PhDchat
10/16

"Since returning to work I’ve been reassessed for Disabled Students Allowance which is available to UK students. However, this didn’t really focus much on #LongCovid symptoms but my existing mental health problems, and is a very lengthy exhausting process."

11/16

"Any adaptive equipment for home working or day-to-day life I’ve had to fund myself in the meantime."

#LongCovid #AcademicChatter #PhDchat
12/16

"Working was only possible initially (after 6 months off!) through extreme pacing, limiting screen time and taking regular breaks, working one day on and one day off."

#LongCovid #AcademicChatter #PhDchat #StopRestPace
13/16

" #BrainFog makes reading and statistical analysis impossible, but impacts all other aspects of academic work. I often find it very difficult to focus in online talks and meetings."

#LongCovid #AcademicChatter #PhDchat
14/16

"I def. worry about cognitive impairment & the possibility that I’m not thinking on the same level that I was before Covid. I’ve been open about having #LongCovid & also worry that might get me into further trouble as I’m already quite outspoken and critical on social media."
15/

"Fortunately, I’ve not yet had any assessments or presentations or interviews etc. but am not looking forward to my viva if symptoms continue."

#LongCovid #GraduateSchool #phdchat

16/16

If you're a student/postdoc/faculty living w/ LC, here's how to anonymously share your story/thoughts/experiences: https://forms.gle/zYaJZTsxzLwDTbAT8