Psychological disturbances of survivors throughout COVID-19 crisis: a qualitative study

In addition to physical problems, patients with COVID-19 suffer from considerable stress throughout
the disease crisis. It is important to address mental health needs and not to ignore the psychological dimension in
this group of patients. In this regard, the first practical step is to have a clear understanding of patients’
psychological issues. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the psychological disturbances of COVID-19 survivors
throughout the disease crisis.
Method: This qualitative study was conducted using a phenomenological approach through 14 individual semistructured
in-depth interviews with patients recovered from COVID-19. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s sevenstep
method.
Results: Three themes of “living in limbo”, “psychological distress behind the wall” and “psychological burden of being
a carrier” were extracted as the psychological disturbances of COVID-19 survivors throughout the disease crisis.
Conclusion: This study portrayed a better understanding of psychological disturbances of COVID-19 survivors
throughout the disease crisis based on their lived experiences. Given the ambiguity in the time of the disease
eradication and its continuing course, a deep understanding of these experiences in the current critical situation can
help healthcare officials to make appropriate decisions and take measures to assess and identify psychological traumas
and perform interventions to improve the mental state of these patients