What Not to Ask Me About My Long COVID

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 22:25:23 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/long-covid-symptoms-chronic-illness-disability/673057/>

"Before I got long COVID, I tuned out virtually all stories about it. They were
tedious because I was tired of the pandemic, because we are all tired of the
pandemic, because it is as familiar as rain and honestly just as dreary; I can
hardly believe we once called the coronavirus novel.

Today, I still tune out most long-COVID stories, though for different reasons.
(Busman’s holiday. I outsource the job to my family.) But millions of us suffer
from long COVID (“the pandemic after the pandemic,” as a Washington Post
editorial put it last week), so today I’d like to discuss … etiquette. That’s
right: manners. I’d like to offer a civilian’s guide to navigating the
sensitivities of those furious, frustrated, irritable millions—and to better
understanding them.

The fact is, no one—including doctors (especially doctors, dear God, these
doctors)—knows the right things to say to those of us who have long COVID,
because no one seems to be thinking about this wretched condition in the right
way. Nor does anyone seem to understand the unique psychological suffering
associated with this condition. It’s hideous—arguably worse than some of the
very worst of our physical symptoms. Which, let’s face it, are already pretty
grim."

Via Violet Blue's Pandemic Roundup: February 16, 2023
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-78762468

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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