Dr JD Carpentieri (Ioe, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society)
Dr JD Carpentieri (Ioe, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society) Dr JD Carpentieri (Ioe, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society), Chao Fang (University of Liverpool) and Sarah Akhtar Baz (University of York) explore in The Conversation how long COVID patients helped us understand what it's like to lose all sense of identity and purpose. Lucy* used to be known fondly as the "iron lady" by colleagues at work. In her mid-50s and still the main breadwinner for her family, she had always thought of herself as strong, energetic, and indestructible - but not any more. Since contracting COVID-19 in March 2020, Lucy told us she had been struggling with relentless fatigue, joint pain, breathlessness, brain fog and sensory dysfunction. But worse than any single symptom is how this leaves her feeling about her own identity. She said she found herself unrecognisable, a shadow of the person she used to be: "This isn't who I am - I don't recognise myself. I panic if I get on the Tube and there's no seat.
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