Long COVID-19 bears a resemblance to functional somatic syndromes characterised by persistent somatic symptoms of unclear aetiology. Such syndromes often develop after an eliciting trigger, such as a viral infection. However, at the moment of symptom reporting, no clear somatic abnormalities can be found despite sound history taking and diagnostic investigation. The absence of detectable bodily abnormalities in people affected by persistent somatic symptoms facilitates stigmatisation. This stems from dualistic thinking, that is, the body-versus-the-mind idea, which allows others, including healthcare professionals, to assume patients should ‘toughen up’ as apparently nothing is physically wrong.
3 Thus, in persistent somatic symptoms social stigmatisation stems from the psychosomatic connotation of symptoms: the blame projected towards people affected by persistent somatic symptoms refers to the perceived inability of people to waver their symptoms.
4 These negative attitudes are likely to negatively impact help-seeking behaviour for these symptoms as is commonly seen in other (infectious) diseases.