Thousands of people in Massachusetts have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. And though most of them have recovered, many are still dealing with persistent symptoms from COVID-19. These so-called "long haulers" are living with physical and mental symptoms weeks to months after contracting the virus.

Lian Lam, 36, of Canton, tested positive in March. An avid biker and runner, she was active before her diagnosis. But for the last nine months, Lam has been suffering from coughing fits, shortness of breath and body rashes — despite testing negative for the virus several times since the spring.

She says she's found support on "long hauler" support groups on Facebook, where others in Massachusetts and around the world can connect and talk through their persisting symptoms.

"You're thinking 'Am I crazy? Is this still happening to me?'" said Lam. "And then you go onto the group and see that there's still thousands of people still dealing with this stuff every single day. I feel fortunate that I'm still alive and still healthy enough to live every day ... there's people on there that have symptoms that are a lot worse than mine. It's good just to have that support there. It seems like the doctors don't really understand it, but at least we have each other to help us get through it."

Also on the show, we heard from Dr. Abbie Goldberg, a professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, about the challenges facing divorcing and adoptive families in the pandemic that she's learned about through her recent research.

Goldberg says even without a pandemic, one of the main challenges within these families is coming up with agreements to co-parent. But the pandemic is adding additional layers, especially when it comes to comfort levels with social distancing and other COVID safety protocols.

"Sometimes participants said their ex's wouldn't communicate with them, so they didn't really know what they were doing," said Dr. Goldberg. "Sometimes they said, 'Well, you know, my ex says they they're doing a, b and c, but my kid tells me otherwise.'"

Click on the audio player above to listen to the full episode.

Segments:

Dr. Abbie Goldberg - 2:33
Lian Lam - 17:12