I think it is certainly true, but I also think that lay people significantly underestimate psychosomnia and the power of placebo and having a more active lifestyle.
This was very different; prior to that I used to do 1-2h of strong cardio or lifting activity a day, was studying at multiple universities and worked multiple consulting gigs. This was like being hit by a train suddenly, going from hero to zero. I've noticed that positive thoughts helped but I attribute it to brain being low on processing power and negative thoughts taking more processing power/energy, causing even more problems. I had a stroke-like experience where I could no longer read text, locate symbols, follow visual clues which told me there was some problem with visual cortex VC2 or VC4 and I could perfectly see delineation between different "algorithms" running in my brain for visual processing and they seemed to be running low on fuel. Quite amazing experience for a Deep Learning researcher but would never wish it to anyone.
Yes, was just trying to comment on the overall broader critique of the medical sphere you were providing. Your story sounds very personal to you and I am not commenting on that.
I really think it's the other way round, a physical issue that might manifest in some psychological phenomenon due to a lack of brain processing capacity and doctors just take it the other way round, because it's much easier to put an "anxiety sticker" on someone than figure the real underlying problem out. There are even some psychiatrists that consider all mental issues to be problems with brain metabolism, i.e. physical problems manifesting in psychical ones.
> There are even some psychiatrists that consider all mental issues to be problems with brain metabolism, i.e. physical problems manifesting in psychical ones.
Yes, because medicine is ultimately a customer-serving profession, there will be plenty of people saying the things that people want to hear because they are paid to retain customers and people elevate things that are similar to what they want to hear.
People are very uncomfortable with the mental, hence it is now popular to hear very mechanistic explanations of why someone is depressed, etc. about 'brain chemical imbalance' because it makes someone feel less like it is something wrong with who they are as a person (the mind-body dualism is still very present for most people in Western cultures). Of course, ultimately everything (including the functioning of our mind) is mechanistic, but people seem to be more comfortable with very mechanistically couched explanations as compared to 'something is wrong with my mind!' even when the implications aren't all so different.
LC research shows that there are at least three factors going on that might affect functioning of the brain:
1) damaged endothelium with possible microclots clogging up small vessels
2) spike protein reservoir likely causing cellular-level iron deficit (anemia)
3) mitochondrial dysfunction
Some recent research even shows brain hypoperfusion and different levels of oxygen in each hemisphere!
Now ignoring these factors is in my opinion lazy science and a convenient way for medical professionals to state "it's not my problem, go somewhere else, I just want my regular routine without any complications. Go see a shrink".
> This was very different; prior to that I used to do 1-2h of strong cardio or lifting activity a day, was studying at multiple universities and worked multiple consulting gigs.
I'm going to suggest that with this intense pace this might have happened one way or another. Take it from someone who has been there.
When we push too hard for too long, and ignore our bodies and minds pleas for rest, at some point the body is going to put the brakes on us.
I don't think this is necessarily COVID specific, my speculation is that long COVID is the kernel around which the fatigue episode crystallised, and thatif it hadn't been COVID it would have been something else.
My theory is that as COVID depletes a month-worth of NAD+ in like 3 days, it leads to energetic deficit throughout the body, and the weakest links start failing first. So I assume I had some predisposition coming from my intense lifestyle and COVID just initiated the domino effect. I wish I knew about NAD+ prior to that, I might have skipped it altogether if I resupplied it right away.
Interesting theory but I wouldn't be so sure. I've been through healing journeys where the websites suggested all sorts of deficiencies and supplements, but in the end I came to believe I just needed to slow down.
We know that COVID depletes NAD+ reserves and NAD+ is the main electron transport molecule in the body (second one is FAD+ in some cells in the brain). So if you suddenly run out of electron transporter, it would inhibit most of your systems, making you tired all the time, and the systems that are already operating near their maximal capacity will start failing. This might kick off a chain reaction that is later transformed into condition we call long covid. It would also explain why it is different for each person as everyone has different organs in bad shape and why people with certain organ damage have similar symptoms.
I can speak from experience having gone through a healing journey where the online sites promoted a single supplement as the cure.
I later felt that this focus on this 'replace lost nutrients' approach, while it might have had some merit in the acute phase, also kept some people in denial of the factors which led them to their health crises.
