How to Fail COVID19 Survivors: A Thread

Step 1: Place emphasis on mortality. Ignore the fact that many survivors will be disabled and need access to rehab and other support.

Step 2: Be mystified by diverse acute impacts of the virus –some asymptomatic, some ICU. Ignore the fact that every medical diagnosis in history affects patients differently.

Step 3: Focus entirely on the effects of the virus on bodily systems and cells. Ignore the effects of hospital treatment treatment (or lackthereof). Ignore environments, behaviors, and emotions that can influence outcomes.

Step 4: Be even MORE mystified by long-term symptoms. Pretend that there aren’t volumes of research about persistent fatigue, brain fog, sleep disturbance in survivors of medical conditions like H1N1, COPD, cancer, sepsis.

Step 5: Convince yourself and your patients that SOME medication must help with symptoms. Pour millions of research dollars into meds to “fix” the virus and symptoms. Ignore talks about meaningful life and rehabilitation.

Step 6: Believe that physical symptoms and mental health symptoms are entirely distinct. Ignore research detailing how symptoms like sleep disturbance, pain breathlessness, fatigue, and brain fog require a team treatment to recover meaningfully.

Step 7: Fail not only #COVID19 survivors, but survivors of other medical conditions by emphasizing medications and procedures as cures for symptoms. When your pt isn’t fixed, tell them they’ve failed treatment and punt them to the psychologist. They should be happy to be alive.

Step 9: Exclude behavioral health experts from creation of policy, research, and treatment guidelines. Ensure that your public messaging about prevention and recovery will continue to be inconsistent, incomplete, and inaccessible to the general public. https://twitter.com/AHardinPhD/status/1326866433930833921