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Patients with severe COVID-19 experience high-stress levels and thus are at risk for developing acute stress disorder (ASD) and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study aims to search for correlations between psychiatric response to stress and coping strategies among individuals with acute vs. remitted COVID-19. Ninety subjects with COVID-19 were included in the study, divided into two samples by disease category. Our focus was analysing the perceived stress intensity according to NSESSS and PCL-C-17 scales, and coping strategies with COPE-60. High NSESSS scores were found in 40% of acute patients, and 15.6% of remitted patients had high PCL-C-17 scores fulfilling the criteria for PTSD. We found a negative correlation between stress level and disease category. Acute patients used significantly more engagement and emotion-focused coping methods, but less disengagement types of coping than patients in the remitted phase. Remitted patients under high stress levels are prone to use disengagement and emotion-focused coping strategies. In conclusion, remitted COVID-19 patients experience lower levels of stress and use less emotion-focused strategies, except among those who developed PTSD post-COVID-19 infection, presenting with high-stress levels and using more disengagement and emotion-focused types of coping strategies.

This study assesses the empathy level, cognitive performance and emotion recognition skills of remitted patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder, and also explores the relationship between impairments in the mentioned domains. The study was performed on 77 subjects divided into two groups: PAT sample (N = 37) included remitted patients with either schizophrenia, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder who were compared with healthy control subjects from the HC sample (N = 40). Along with sociodemographic and clinical data, empathy levels (using EQ (Empathy Quotient) scale), the ability to recognize another person’s emotional state (using RMET (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test)), and cognitive performance (using MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) Scale) were investigated. The intensity of the psychiatric symptoms was measured with BPRS-E (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale—Expanded). The remitted patients had lower EQ (p = 0.02) and RMET (p &lt, 0.0001) scores than the healthy subjects. In the PAT group, RMET scores were positively correlated with MoCA total scores. Both EQ and RMET scores were negatively correlated with BPRS-E total scores. Psychiatric disorder was a significant predictor for deficits in emotion recognition. There were no significant differences in RMET, EQ and MoCA scores between patients with respect to diagnosis, the type of antipsychotic or the associated medication. In both samples, females had higher empathy levels (p = 0.04) and better emotion recognition abilities (p = 0.04) than males. Patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder, currently in remission, displayed lower empathy levels and poorer emotion recognition skills than healthy subjects. Poor emotion recognition skills were associated with symptom severity and impairments in global cognition.