Psychological and cognitive problems can make it more challenging for patients to eat well.
Symptoms can include:
- Sleep disorders
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Apathy
- Depression
- Despair, hallucinations
- Low mood
What does it have to do with the patient’s nutrition and diet?
- Emotional states affect what we choose to eat, and some foods can be eaten as emotional comfort
- Low mood, apathy and other symptoms can also prevent us from eating at all, hence affecting our nutrition
- Adjusting to a changed health status and having a long-term condition can lead to depression and anxiety disorders (NIHR, 2021)
- Sleeping disturbances such as short or interrupted sleep have been associated with increased inflammation, reduced functional capacity to fight infections (Lockyer, 2020)
Useful links to address some of these symptoms
- Coping with Coronavirus provides many self help guides for issues such as anxiety, breathing techniques, sleep and others
- First-line advice and further advice
- Assessing nutritional needs and setting realistic goals