Over the past 2 years, the scientific community has acquired a better understanding about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as an acute disease, but there is still much to learn, especially when considering the chronic aspects of this illness. In the early stages of the pandemic, healthcare workers focused on acute COVID-19 symptoms, often overlooking its long-term and chronic implications. In October 2021, the World Health Organization recognised these long-term complications as long COVID syndrome, which probably affected more than 62% of patients [1]. Patients with long COVID syndrome experienced the fear of living forever with those symptoms, arising from the lack of medical information on this issue [2], combined with the feeling of being ignored and disbelieved. Several patients felt they did not have access to appropriate healthcare, as they perceived that healthcare workers disregarded their symptoms and judged them as unreal, often considering them secondary to psychiatric issues [3].

Beyond the healthcare field, patients found little support or understanding, even in their social networks, with a post-COVID syndrome resulting in a deterioration in their ability to perform daily activities, family relationships and working capacity [1]. For instance, family members were frequently unable to provide enough emotional support or accept the patient's increased need for rest due to symptoms [2]. In the workplace, people were often unable to perform their duties as well as usual, thus worked shorter shifts due to fatigue and a fear of making mistakes caused by brain fog [3]. This led to isolation, anxiety, self-doubt, changed professional identity [3, 4], and to a dangerous feeling of loneliness.

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