Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42119693›Full record

ReviewPsychiatrische Praxis2026

What is the Role of "the Psyche"? Long COVID and ME/CFS as Test Cases for Evidence-Based and Patient-Centered Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.

Georg Schomerus, Mirja Lisa Nicolas, Fabian Fritz, Diana Schneider, Ronja Büchner

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Psychiatrische Praxis, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Georg SchomerusKlinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig.
Mirja Lisa NicolasKlinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig.
Fabian FritzDepartment Erziehungswissenschaft, Fakultät II "Bildung - Architektur - Künste", Universität Siegen.
Diana SchneiderKlinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig.
Ronja BüchnerKlinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Abstract: The role of psychological factors in the development and course of Long Covid (LC) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) remains a subject of controversial debate. We argue that psychologizing LC and ME/CFS carries significant risks: it leads to potentially harmful therapies, invalidates the patients' experience of illness, hinders effective interventions such as pacing, diverts focus from necessary physical diagnostics and treatment, disadvantages patients in medical assessments, and places a considerable additional burden on the families of affected children or other relatives. We show that many of the arguments presented for a psychological contribution are nonspecific or insufficiently supported by empirical evidence. Our essay therefore advocates for extreme caution in attributing psychological factors to these conditions, in the interest of a specific, evidence-based, and patient-centered psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Indexed as

Evidence-Based MedicineFatigue Syndrome, ChronicPatient-Centered CarePost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromePsychotherapyHumansPsychiatry

Identifiers

PMID42119693
PMCPMC13384738

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.