Older women who have a history of both depression and anxiety had a 78% higher risk of developing long COVID after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, report University of California San Diego researchers in the Jan. 27, 2026 online edition of the journal Menopause.
Some people have only anxiety. Some have only depression. When these conditions occur together, they usually indicate more severe mental illness.”
Wael Al-Delaimy, MD, PhD, senior author, professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, UC San Diego
“In this study, we measured the health of women over 20 years by analyzing data from the Women’s Health Initiative. We found that older women with a combined history of both depression and anxiety, before the COVID-19 pandemic, were at the highest risk of long COVID…