In May 2020, Cambridge University surveyed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 13,049 suspected or confirmed COVID-19 survivors in the United Kingdom to analyze unit deviation in disease severity and treatments. In comparison to COVID-19 patients who did not experience breathing problems, mean PTSD symptom scores was greater in COVID-19 patients who had severe respiratory symptoms which required assistance at home (effect size 0.178 s.d.), were admitted into a hospital without a ventilator (effect size 0.234 s.d.), or were admitted into a hospital and required a ventilator (effect size 0.454 s.d.). In these groups, intrusive imagery was found to be the most common PTSD symptom reported. These findings demonstrate the importance of adequate mental health support and follow up for recovered COVID-19 patients.