Psychotherapeutic support in post-COVID syndrome

The post-COVID syndrome (PCS) is a multisystemic illness which necessitates an interdisciplinary treatment, often with psychotherapeutic support in the disease processing. Both somatic and also mental factors play a role in the pathogenesis. Underlying the PCE is a complex multifactorial model of the disease genesis and maintenance. The most popular somatic hypotheses include chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, viral persistence, endothelial dysfunction and damage of body cells; however, these are not sufficient to explain the complex pattern of symptoms but require a biopsychosocial understanding that is examined in detail in this article. Furthermore, the article provides an overview with respect to those psychotherapeutic concepts and techniques that could help post-COVID patients in the processing of the disease and adaptation to their functional limitations.