"True" is such a power word here. It's a symptom defined condition like ME and we're seeing epidemiology and medicine do what it has to do: weak evidence can make for bad science.<p>I am not in medicine or epidemiology. I am confident sufferers have symptoms and I do not believe this is a totally psychosomatic problem, or driven in anxiety & depression both of which have been said of ME.<p>Wiser minds will comment more. This isn't a "bad" BMJ piece it lays out how hard it is to go from symptoms collections to a true understanding of a disease aetiology.<p>Be kind to long covid sufferers true or otherwise. It won't be fun being told you may not exist.