A Phenomenology Study Exploring Mental Health and Psychosocial Adaptation to Disability

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted all sectors of society and the world atlarge. The World Health Organization (2022) found global confirmed cases of people withcoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), also known as severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), had reached over 536 million with over 6.3 million reporteddeaths from this disease. As of April 2023, an estimated 104 million Americans had beeninfected with COVID-19 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023b).Most people who have been infected with COVID-19 recover within a few days or fewweeks after the initial infection with holistic support, treatment, rest, and gradual return to dailyactivities (Greenhalgh et al., 2020). However, a significant number of people do not recover andcontinue to experience enduring health problems and complications often for weeks, months, orlonger after the onset of the original virus (Ahmad et al., 2022; Blitshteyn & Whitelaw, 2021;Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022c; Chen et al., 2021; Hernandez-Romieu at al.,2022; Sathish et al., 2021; Wong & Weitzer, 2021). According to a recent data analyzed by theCDC's National Center for Health Statistics, about 7.5% of adults in the United States (1 in every13 people) continue to suffer lingering symptoms of COVID-19, often referred to as "longCOVID" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). These individuals are known asCOVID long-haulers; the long-term symptoms are collectively referred to as 'long COVID' orpost-COVID conditions (PCC) (Soriano et al., 2022).Many long COVID patients experience persistent and potentially debilitating post-COVIDsymptoms, which puts them at an increased risk for chronic medical conditions or long-termdisability due to neurological or physical impairment (CDC, 2020b; Couzin-Frankel, 2020; Officefor National Statistics, 2021). Moreover, in addition to these physical detriments, a significantproportion struggle with mental health issues such as anxiety disorders and depression (McCorkellet al., 2020; Schou et al., 2021; Taquet et al., 2021). This is not surprising, considering that theacquisition of a chronic illness or disability (CID) is life-changing and can have an enormousimpact on an individual's mental health and quality of life. Given the increasing number of individualsand their families impacted by the effects of long COVID, it is evident that this conditionrequires sustained attention and research.