I think most (or almost all) people aren't doing any of that _consciously_, but it's an extra sadness on top of the specific miseries from which they're suffering.
(I think it's also probably 'real' – to some extent – but then there's probably lots of 'long X' dragging us down that we're only slowly being able to clearly identify.)
I'm not sure if I disagree with you or not (because putting long COVID in quotes makes me think you're skeptical of its existence) but I think what you've pointed to, if true, is illustrative of at least point 17 above: no one with severe(?) long COVID thinks of it as something other than debilitating and has gained only suffering from it, compounded by neglect and incompetence on the part of the medical system.
I think most (or almost all) people aren't doing any of that _consciously_, but it's an extra sadness on top of the specific miseries from which they're suffering.
(I think it's also probably 'real' – to some extent – but then there's probably lots of 'long X' dragging us down that we're only slowly being able to clearly identify.)
I'm not sure if I disagree with you or not (because putting long COVID in quotes makes me think you're skeptical of its existence) but I think what you've pointed to, if true, is illustrative of at least point 17 above: no one with severe(?) long COVID thinks of it as something other than debilitating and has gained only suffering from it, compounded by neglect and incompetence on the part of the medical system.