There is a symptom of Long COVID that I’ve observed in myself and others that I have not seen as part of the global conversation. I call it Long COVID voice. It is not directly treatable as it is a byproduct of the numerous other symptoms Long COVID patients endure. I suspect that it may also be encountered in other chronic conditions.
Long COVID voice is a flat, monotone inflection. A petulant teenager would proudly cultivate such a tone. For Long COVID patients, it is completely involuntary. Our bodies are so busy on a multitude of invisible processes that there is no energy left to modulate tone.
Early in my Long COVID journey, while I had the mental energy to work, it was challenging to sit at my desk. At that time, I typically worked while lying on my couch. However, for team meetings, I would sit at my desk to participate with the video on. Unfortunately, the effort to sit up would often exhaust me so much that I would be excitedly reporting my findings in a dull and dismal Long COVID voice.
Similarly, during a Long COVID support group meeting, another patient on the call congratulated me on a win I shared. Her words were genuine, but her tone was such that anyone not familiar with Long COVID voice would have assumed she was being sarcastic.
It is frustrating to hear yourself sound so crabby when you mean to convey the opposite. Compassion, which is not cultivated enough in our society, is key to defusing the frustrations caused by Long COVID voice and by the symptoms that lead to it.
I wish you and yours a compassionate 2025, whatever challenges the year brings you.
Feature image credit: Theater by Gregor Cresnar from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)
Carolyn Ristau 