[nicoburns]

> With symptoms like "fatigue" and "pain", it's quite probable.

I'd disagree with this. I'd argue that the causation is equally likely to go the other way. Fatigue is a well-documented symptom of multiple viral infections. And painful auto-immune induced symptoms are well-documented in post-covid patients. And who wouldn't be depressed if they can no longer work or do the activities they usually enjoy because they can't get through a day without running out of energy while they can see everyone else getting back to their normal lives.

[timr]

Everything in the paper is a correlation, and correlations alone do not imply a causative relationship. Therefore, you can just as plausibly argue that the symptoms cited have nothing to do with covid. That said, there's no reason to believe that people with "long flu" (the control group) would be less likely to experience depression as a result of their lingering symptoms, but that is what is seen. And remember that depression and anxiety are more common than the other symptoms -- they're happening in the absence of other "long covid" symptoms in this cohort.

Does Covid cause depression and anxiety, or are depressed and anxious people more likely show up to the doctor seeking covid treatment? You can't tell from a study like this, but the latter is a simpler explanation, consistent with a radical, society-wide initiative that uprooted people's social structures during the study period.

Also, this:

> painful auto-immune induced symptoms are well-documented in post-covid patients.

Is not true. There is some speculation and self-reporting of symptoms, but it has not been "well documented", or documented at all.

[cjbgkagh]

Depressed people don’t want to do things, fatigued people want to do them but can’t.

[nradov]

Fatigue can be a symptom of depression.

[cjbgkagh]

I think the categories and the attributes assigned to them are fuzzy. That said fatigue that is attributed to CFS/ME is not just being tired, it's a whole other level, it is a crushing fatigue. CFS/ME fatigue also has clearly definable characteristics; for example Post-exertional malaise (PEM) that does not occur in depressed people unless they also have CFS/ME. In which case they're probably miscategorized.