In 2020, the world gained dramatic experience of the development of the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Recent researches notice an increasing prevalence of anxiety and circadian rhythm disorders during COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was describing clinical features of circadian rhythm disorders and the level of anxiety in persons who have had COVID-19. We have conducted a cohort retrospective study that included 278 patients who were divided into 2 study groups according to medical history: group 1 includes patients with a history of COVID-19; group 2 consists of patients who did not have clinically confirmed COVID-19 and are therefore considered not to have had this disease. To objectify circadian rhythm disorders, they were verified in accordance with the criteria of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders-3. The level of anxiety was assessed by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The most common circadian rhythm disorders were sleep phase shifts. We found that COVID-19 in the anamnesis caused a greater predisposition of patients to the development of circadian rhythm disorders, in particular delayed sleep phase disorder. In addition, it was found that after COVID-19 patients have increased levels of both trait and state anxiety. In our study, it was the first time that relationships between post-COVID-19 anxiety and circadian rhythm disorders had been indicated. Circadian rhythm disorders are associated with increased trait and state anxiety, which may indicate additional ways to correct post-COVID mental disorders and their comorbidity with sleep disorders.

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The reduced ability or difficulty to express verbally, to name one’s own emotional states or feelings of other people, is commonly called alexithymia. Currently, studies are being conducted in which they ascertain whether alexithymia is a specific property of a person or whether it can only predispose to psychosomatic diseases, being their predictor. Some researchers believe that alexithymia itself is not a disease and is a series of characteristics characteristic of certain individuals. Alexithymia is clearly expressed in the personality structure of patients with cardiovascular diseases and represents a separate factor in this structure. In general, studies show that patients with alexithymia are hypersensitive to both internal somatic unpleasant sensations and external pain stimuli, but they cannot describe the differences between different types of pain. Alexithymia can be considered as one of the premorbid personality factors that reduce the compensatory psychological defense capabilities in lucid alcoholism. Alexithymia is found in many drug addicts. Instead of simply getting rid of painful, intolerable, or overwhelming feelings, people who abuse chemicals can use them to control affects, especially when these affects are hard to grasp, distinguish, and give them a name. At the same time, the differences in the manifestations of alexithymia in alcohol and drug addiction, including its influence on the development of addictive behavior, are not well understood. The study of alexithymia is a topical issue of modern psychiatry and narcology, which allows us to apply a personified approach to the patient and to improve modern therapeutic and rehabilitation measures.

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