Rather than accepting the reality of our latest agonizing illness, a string of news articles, backed by a contingent of scientists, has begun to call long Covid “psychogenic”—all in the head. We are at a pivotal moment. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that nearly one in five people develops long-term symptoms after a Covid infection, it is time to rise up and stop the gaslighting—the rejection of the latest research and the experience of patients. We must stop this dismissal before long Covid joins ME/CFS and persistent Lyme as just one more contested disease.
The global experience of long Covid thrust the condition onto the front pages of newspapers and inaugurated what was in essence the largest-ever natural inquiry into post-infectious diseases. There were more patients than ever to study. The debate was no longer cloistered in patient forums or in academic review committees, and it was unfolding at scale in real time. Just as with evolution and genetics, long Covid shows how some of the most innovative science emerges from outside the scientific establishment.
