Living with long COVID or supporting someone who has it can be difficult, particularly when there are no immediate answers or solutions. We adapted a US CDC resource into Japanese that describes ways to ease the burden when you have new or poorly understood symptoms or are caring for someone who does. This resource is for the general public.

Download the Japanese handout as a PDF or Word file.

Children and adolescents

Post-COVID symptoms have been reported less often in children and adolescents than in adults, but children and adolescents can experience long-term effects. Children may find it hard to describe what they are experiencing.

If your child has symptoms that affect school attendance, schoolwork or activities they could do before, it may help to talk with their healthcare provider and school. The school may offer extra time for tests, rest breaks during the day or a different class schedule. School leaders, counsellors and nurses may work with you and your child’s provider to support learning, especially if your child has difficulty thinking, concentrating or managing physical tasks. You can also talk with the people and organizations involved in activities outside school.

Making sense of your experience

People respond to long-lasting symptoms in different ways. The stress, anxiety and uncertainty of unfamiliar symptoms can be difficult to manage. Some people find that learning about their condition helps them deal with ongoing symptoms.

Hearing how other people experience long COVID and considering what is similar to or different from your experience may help you feel less alone. Different approaches help different people. Look for what best supports your own physical and mental health.

Managing stress

At the time this resource was published, experts had yet to reach a conclusion about which medicines or treatments relieve the effects of long COVID. The resource describes established ways to manage the stress associated with it:

  • Take breaks from watching, reading or listening to the news, including on social media. Repeatedly hearing about COVID-19 can be tiring.
  • Look after your body. Try deep breathing, stretching, meditation or mindfulness. Eat balanced meals, get enough sleep and limit alcohol as much as possible. If you can exercise, pay attention to your body’s signals.
  • Make time to relax and, if you can, do something you enjoy.
  • Stay connected. Talk with someone you trust about your worries or changes in how you feel.

Ask a healthcare professional if any of these suggestions would involve changes to your routines, diet, activity level or medicines.

Supporting someone with long COVID

Long COVID symptoms can be confusing and frustrating. Feeling unwell for a long time can leave a person feeling isolated. Everyone’s experience is different. Some people want several kinds of support and others want none.

Start by listening with compassion and asking what the person needs.

1. Listen with compassion

Unfamiliar symptoms that last a long time can be stressful. Taking steps to understand the person’s experience may reduce their sense of isolation. When you listen, acknowledge what they are feeling and what they are going through. The CDC’s tips on listening with compassion offer examples.

2. Start a conversation

Ask about the person’s experience to learn what kind of support they need. An open-ended question such as “How have you been feeling lately?” is one way to start. Take time to listen with care, then ask directly what they need and what you could do. See the CDC’s tips for starting a meaningful conversation.

3. Decide what you can do

Once you understand what support means to that person, decide how you can help. Some people want someone to listen often. Others need practical help with housework or errands.

Sometimes you cannot give the kind of support someone wants. Be honest about what you can do. For example:

“You need help with grocery shopping because you’re not well enough to go. I don’t have a car, so I can’t drive you to the store, but I can share the details of the delivery service I use.”

Employers can help staff with long COVID by offering flexible leave or work arrangements and making use of employee assistance programs. If you are providing care, looking after your health and asking for support yourself are also part of helping people with long COVID.

Nahoko Harada, Nursing Science, Okayama University, translated and partly adapted the Original CDC resource on caring for people with post-COVID conditions (archived). The source was accessed on 31 January 2023.

Current CDC guidance Living with long COVID and supporting others