COVID-19 Long-Hauler's Suicide Haunts Husband Who Supported Her

Over the last year, we've reported on COVID-19 long-haulers — people whose coronavirus symptoms linger, and even worsen, for months after they're cleared of infection. But researchers are only beginning to study one of its most devastating outcomes: suicide.

In a recent Op-Ed in the online journal MedPage Today, the director of epidemiology for Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri writes that long-haulers are prone to depression, anxiety and neurological disorders. He concludes that "We must deal with this now to prevent it from ballooning into a suicide crisis or another opioid epidemic."

Here & Now's Robin Young talks to Nick Guthe, whose 50-year-old wife Heidi Ferrer died by suicide after 13 months of debilitating post-COVID symptoms.

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at [login to see] (En Español: [login to see] ; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: [login to see] ) or the Crisis Text Line by texting 741741.