Patients recovering from COVID-19 may face a second battle -- coping with the disease's mental health ramifications.
This is particularly true for the sickest of the sick who required time in the ICU and intubation. These patients may experience "post-intensive care syndrome" (PICS) that could manifest as a combination of physical, cognitive, and mental health impairments following an ICU stay for a critical illness.

Today, a patient was discharged after an extended stay in the hospital. As we do for many patients who have survived COVID-19, we celebrated the patient's discharge. Staff who had cared for the patient lined the halls — smiling, clapping and some even had tears in their eyes. There were balloons, and a celebratory song was played over the loudspeaker as the nurse wheeled the patient to their spouse, who was eager and ready to take their loved one home at last. As a hospital chaplain, I know the value of having a case like this patient, to the family, certainly, but also to the medical community. When illness feels overwhelming, having someone who was so sick recover so beautifully changes the mood of all those who worked with them. For many staff in our hospital, this patient was our miracle — that ray of hope that reminded us even the sickest person can get better.

The long-term effects of surviving COVID-19 have become a new focus of attention for clinicians and researchers. This focus has been driven partly by concerns about late ill-effects of a previously unknown virus, but recognised generic patterns of chronic disease after critical illness also exist. These patterns are termed PICS, an acronym both for post-intensive care syndrome and for persistent inflammation, immunosuppression, and catabolism syndrome. We recommend unifying post-COVID-19 research aims with those of PICS research and propose a novel approach to its management by repurposing drugs that are approved, inexpensive, and safe.