Resonance to SO LONG COVID: media coverage, responses and messages

We are deeply moved by the responses, questions and stories that reach us.

SO LONG COVID grew out of a personal recovery story. Since then, we have received many messages from people affected by chronic illness, their families, health professionals and journalists. This page brings together media coverage and a selection of voices from people engaging with the podcast, a neuroplastic understanding of persistent symptoms and the possibility of recovery. Most of the responses shown here were originally written in German or Swiss German and have been translated into English.


Personal accounts

“Your podcast changed my life.”

Dear podcast team, dear fellow sufferers,

Two years ago, as a young, athletic woman, I developed ME/CFS. It kept getting worse, and in the end I spent more than half a year almost entirely in bed and completely dependent on help. I tried countless medications and approaches and researched endlessly until I came across your podcast. Even as a sceptic, it immediately made sense to me. That was four weeks ago. From being bedridden, experiencing the worst crashes and being admitted to hospital, I am now back to a slow-paced everyday life: I exercise at home, read, listen to music and meet friends. Your podcast changed my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 💛

And to everyone who is where I was: Don’t give up! Recovery is possible, and I am well on my way.

- Louise
“So long Covid – so long, migraine!”

I lived with migraine for 40 years. My GPs and neurologists had taught me that migraine was inherited, chronic and incurable. I simply had to live with it with the help of acute medication (triptans). But after treatment, the migraine kept returning at ever shorter intervals. Over the last five years, I had migraine almost every day, eventually every 15–20 hours. So I was taking not only the permitted maximum of 15 triptans per month, but up to 40 triptans per month.

In spring 2026, Tabea told me about the podcast “So Long Covid”. My first thought was: this has nothing to do with me – I don’t have Long Covid. I even forwarded the podcast to an acquaintance with Long Covid without listening to it myself. It was only when she told me about the good progress she was making, and another acquaintance also described the podcast as very helpful, that I listened to two episodes. That was when it clicked for me. For the first time, I was given an explanation of how learned alarm patterns in the brain can also play a role in chronic symptoms – and that we can influence them. This information fundamentally changed how I dealt with 40 years of migraine. For the first time in my life, I had a concrete strategy that convinced me.

At 4 a.m. on 15 May 2026, after another migraine attack, I decided: “Enough is enough! I’m going to stop the medication cold turkey.” Eighteen weeks later, I had not taken a single triptan. Headaches still occurred every two to four days, but most of the time they resolved within one or two hours with breathing exercises and other techniques. The idea of taking a triptan, as I would long since have done in the past, did not even cross my mind.

“So Long Covid” grew out of Jann’s own recovery story. He and his partner, journalist Zita Bauer, turned it into a six-part podcast after extensive research with people affected and experts. For me, the podcast was far more than an interesting story. At exactly the right moment, it gave me the crucial new information and the courage to take a different path.

Thank you, Zita and Jann!

- René

More about René’s story

René has documented his experience in a 32-page brochure. You can order it from him by email for CHF 7, including postage:

rene.meier@redens-art.ch
“So fascinating. And helpful. Thank you, thank you for your immense work.”

Thank you, you two lovely people 🥰 Your podcast came at exactly the right moment to help me keep going and not lose the certainty that recovery is possible. Aha – I now realise that fear has me in its grip too. So! ... Long Covid! A friendly declaration of war on you.

Although I have made huge progress over the course of a year thanks to craniosacral therapy and acupuncture, I keep getting stuck with fatigue, tingling sensations and brain fog. Now I know why. Of course, the fear of crashes. But I didn’t know the remarkable story of the neurobiological mechanisms. So fascinating. And helpful. Thank you, thank you for your immense work.

I’m going to learn more and continue along this path. The University of Basel is unfortunately “a bit far away”. But I’ll find ways with the help of your many tips and links. A thousand thanks from the Grisons … where everything only arrives ten years later. 😅 I wish you both lots of joy in your new sense of life.

- Ingrid
“[The podcast] shows in an impressive way that recovery is possible.”

As someone affected by Long Covid myself, this podcast gives me confirmation, courage and confidence that I am on the right path to recovery for ME.

It offers a fascinating insight into the neuroplastic approach and shows in an impressive way that recovery is possible. It takes an incredible amount of patience and time, but step by step things move forward. However, it is important to me to emphasise that this approach will not be the solution for everyone.

An excellent podcast all round – very professionally produced and at the same time characterised by sensitivity and that all-important touch of humour.

Thank you to Zita and Jann for this valuable contribution!

- Monika
Would you like to share your story here too? Write to us at solongcovid@proton.me

More public responses

“I finally managed to listen to all the episodes. Really well done!!! And I think my brain has laid down a few little neural pathways for Swiss German 😂”

– Anonymous

“Wow. Thank you for the change in perspective.”

– Sibylle

“1,000 ❤️-felt thanks to Zita and Jann!!!”

– Marcel 4.0

“Dear Zita and Jann, thank you so, so much for this wonderful podcast. I’m currently in rehabilitation and I’m so grateful for all the stories and insights you share with us. For the first time in months, I feel hope and confidence that things can get better – and, even more importantly, that I can influence it myself. One sentence I’m taking with me is: ‘If you have to prove that you are ill, you cannot get well.’ Thank you for all the little moments of insight 🧡”

– Rina

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your podcast ❤️ New hope is here 😀 ☀️🌻”

– Alba

“Moved and hopeful. I myself became severely affected by post-COVID with progression to ME/CFS. Thank you for making this accessible and giving people courage. Thank you for your commitment. Wonderful, and a gift to every soul that has recovered through this knowledge that was new to me. All the very best 😊💝”

– Marion

“Thank you so much. Great – I will very, very gladly recommend it!”

– Anonymous

“Congratulations! This podcast series is a masterpiece. I’m a doctor, I’ve been working with this approach for about a year and I’m also completely convinced by it. It’s good to hear that more and more doctors in Switzerland are seeing it in the same way. I sometimes still struggle to explain this approach to my patients in the limited time available. I will definitely recommend this podcast as a good introduction in future.”

– Anonymous

“Wonderful. I’m so glad to have support and confirmation for my own path through this podcast. The insights of Dr Joe Dispenza and similar approaches have already helped me a lot, as has the programme Fascination, which covers recovery stories and treatments for CFS. With its clarity, this podcast has given me another powerful push forward. And yes, I too am convinced that a revolution in our understanding of illness and recovery is already under way. Thank you.”

– Christian

“Bravo to you for doing what can only be called pioneering work. Our healthcare system needs people like you!”

– Sanja

“Dear Zita and Jann, thank you for the valuable work you have done with this podcast! It can help so many people, and I myself have already benefited a lot – not least from the Curable app you recommended, Jann. Thank you as well for travelling all the way to Gais to visit us and tell your story. That was very valuable and I truly appreciate it. All the best for the future!”

– Lara

“So much love to you for doing this! I’m looking forward to the next episode 🤩”

– Victoria

“❤️ Thank you for giving me courage. I’m still on the way, but I believe I will recover.”

– Anonymous

“Thank you for this podcast 😍 I’ve had Long Covid since the beginning of 2024. I recognise myself in every single word of Jann’s story. Sporting background, symptoms, everything! … I’m looking forward to the next episodes.”

– Vincent

“Thank you for the podcast. Your helpful information about this topic helps give me the strength and courage to cope with this illness more easily each day. At the end of December 2023, I had the physical and mental crash. In September 2024 came the ME/CFS diagnosis. Thank you for this podcast! 🙏🍀❤️”

– Cornelia

“Thank you – you give me hope and knowledge!”

– Sabi

“I’ve had post-COVID for around four years and ME/CFS for around three. I have tried almost every treatment approach. Many things are one piece of the puzzle, but not really a game changer. For a year now I have been working with brain retraining and knowledge about neuroplastic symptoms, and I have made many improvements. With your podcast, you are making an incredibly valuable contribution to making this approach better known, giving people tools and offering genuine hope for life. THANK YOU 💚”

– Domenica

“Top podcast – it gave me courage and confidence.”

– Anonymous

“A great podcast; it really gives me new hope. I would love to hear even more about how the people who recovered approached it. The examples of changing your thinking – the ‘Jacuzzi feeling’ – have already inspired me a lot.”

– Anonymous

“Congratulations! Insights that can help many people. Exciting and compellingly produced. Waiting for the next episode.”

– Andre

“Thank you very much for this podcast! It is so important that people are informed about this topic.”

– Barbara

“Thank you for this important and courageous contribution. I’m sure your work will save lives!”

– Anonymous

“A very successful podcast, handling an important topic with great sensitivity. Thank you!”

– Melanie

“Thanks to an online documentary about Dr Schubiner I had an aha moment. I started using his technique three weeks ago and it’s working. Be brave and give it a try too.”

– Nathalie

“Soooo good! And soooo important! Finally this kind of pain therapy is being spread here too! 💛”

– Janine

“Thank you, a valuable contribution. It’s wonderful that all the many people suffering from this serious illness and diagnosis can have hope and a future again.”

– Trixi

“Thank you very much for your important information. It means a lot to me.”

– Anonymous

“Excellent work. I listened to the podcasts over the weekend and watched some Schubiner videos on YouTube. Really fascinating. Thank you.”

– Bettina

“Thank you so much … for this great podcast! What I heard gives me hope 💪😊”

– Anonymous

“Such an exciting, informative and hopeful podcast!”

– Anonymous

“Thank you so much for your commitment and your energy! As someone affected for almost four years, listening to you is a ray of hope. And thank you for giving us language to explain to the people around us what we experience when we ourselves cannot find the words. You give hope. THANK YOU, and wishing you all the very best from the bottom of my heart ❤️”

– Gabriella

“After two years of ME/CFS – an aha moment – and your podcast, I’m now on day 22 ✨ with hardly any symptoms and an incredible feeling of self-efficacy! A thousand thanks 💜✨”

– Mirjam

“Thank you for this podcast! Valuable and interesting – and likeable voices. The topic of nervous-system regulation isn’t entirely new in the ME/CFS podcast landscape.”

– Anonymous

“Wow, great work. Finally this important topic of ‘chronic’ illnesses with their many different symptoms is being made accessible to a wider audience through this podcast. I studied medicine in order to practise exactly this kind of medicine, after having been ill myself for a long time and finding that no treatment plans existed. Unfortunately, structures are still lacking in the system. This podcast gives me hope that together we can take new paths in this important field.”

– Pascal

“Excellent work with the podcast and thank you for the English subs, much appreciated!!”

– Thomas

“Thank you for the interesting podcast!”

– Anonymous

“I am deeply moved by this podcast. I too recovered after two years of at times severe illness. I spent a lot of money on therapies, but in the end – and I only realised this afterwards – it was exactly this approach that brought me into recovery. There was a turning point, and from then on there was no other thought in me than: I am going to get well. Not a trace of doubt that I would leave this illness behind. And that is what happened.”

– Anonymous

“I feel exactly the same – thank you so much for your work 🙏 – we hope that through your story we too will find the right approach!”

– Anonymous

“Such an important topic, and the podcast is really well produced! Thank you ❤️”

– Nula

“Thank you very much for the extremely well-researched podcast! I’d like to add one piece of constructive criticism: in the example with the shower, it can sound as though you simply have to push through and do it. From my perspective, with this approach it is incredibly important to stay within your baseline (or only go deliberately a little beyond it). That is precisely what creates the sense of safety the system needs. So: small steps outside the comfort zone. But we also know that many roads lead to Rome 😉”

– Alaska

“Thank you so much for the podcast! It’s incredible how much depth and work has gone into these episodes, while at the same time covering such a wide range. Words can hardly express what this means to me right now, how much hope and self-efficacy it gives me AND how much change I can already feel in such a short time. I’m endlessly grateful to you ❤️”

– Rachel

“Great podcast! ❤️ I have ME/CFS myself, have been doing a programme (brain retraining) for a year, and it is getting better! 💝🤍 The path takes patience, it isn’t linear, but IT DOES get better. 😊🥳”

– Ramona

“So valuable. Thank you very much 😊”

– Anonymous

“A good, important and relatively new perspective here. I find it terrible when people such as Marlen Reusser, who experience improvement or recovery through this approach, are attacked or not believed. At the same time, we really must not lose sight of the fact that there are people diagnosed with ME/CFS who have actual structural damage. You say that again and again too.”

– Anonymous

“Thank you so much for your fascinating podcasts. I look forward to every new episode. 🫶💛 Warmly, Paula”

– Paula

“Thank you for this important podcast. I’ve had headaches for 50 years and various other physical symptoms that change over time. I’m convinced these are neuroplastic pains. I’m now starting to treat myself and am currently training as a PRT therapist. I’m already a psychologist and coach with my own practice in Baden. I hope this will allow me to help many people. Thank you, Petra Freund.”

– Petra

“A thousand thanks for this valuable podcast and for sharing your experiences. It gives me so much hope!”

– Anonymous

“A hopeful new approach that could help many people affected. Bravissimo!”

– Andre

“Thank you so much for the podcast. Your information gives hope. We don’t yet fully understand how the path works. I’m hoping for more information in the final episode, or information on where help is available in Switzerland. I’m a family member, like you, Zita. I feel understood when I listen to you.”

– Gabriela

“Thank you for your podcast 💚. While listening, I realised for the first time that I had gone down this path myself.”

– Anonymous

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the podcast ❤️”

– Shania

“Endless thanks 🙏💗”

– Astrid

“Thank you for your work, Zita. I send the podcast to people around me so they can better understand neuroplasticity. You managed to put this complex topic into simple words, and the perspective of a family member makes it especially engaging for those around us. Wow, thank you! I do think the podcast mainly presents ‘high flyers’. For everyone affected who is reading this: recovering this quickly is usually not realistic. It’s worth sticking with it even when it takes longer. Take care, and compare yourself with others as little as possible ✨”

– Susi

“Really great podcast, very informative and real.”

– Elina

“Thank you so much! You are speaking straight from my ❤️. I realised 25 years ago that body and mind influence one another. As a psychotherapist and sports therapist, I have worked with this understanding for years – at a time when there were hardly any studies – and it worked. THANK YOU for your brilliant contribution: a) as practical help and hope for people affected, and b) for helping ensure that ‘non-structural’ illnesses are no longer stigmatised. Thank you so much and all the best! Rahel 🌿”

– Rahel

“Thank you for your work. It gives me enormous hope again – and I can already see small improvements 🙏”

– Anonymous

“A very interesting podcast; I’m looking forward to the remaining episodes. I have been severely affected for four years and have been following the nervous-system approach for three years through courses and so on. Recovery is unfortunately still a long way off. Your podcast is very interesting and professionally structured. [...] Thank you for your work.”

– Anonymous

“Thank you very much for the work and commitment!! It is very interesting and informative!”

– Anonymous

“A highly recommendable podcast. Beautifully produced and very seriously researched in terms of content! Congratulations! Looking forward to the next episodes!”

– Kathrin

“Thank you! As someone affected and almost recovered (with PRT / nervous-system regulation), I was very moved by the podcast. ❤️”

– Sandra

“Brilliant. So well researched, compiled and structured. As someone affected myself, it is hugely valuable.”

– Anonymous

“Dear Zita, I binged the first episodes and from then on waited eagerly for every Sunday. Rarely have I listened to such a professional and enriching podcast. Kudos to you and Jann!”

– Nicole

“Thank you, so helpful.”

– Anonymous

“Congratulations on this fascinating, moving and beautifully crafted podcast! The insights I gained from it enrich me even though I have not had Long Covid myself. I hope it reaches many people who need that crucial spark of hope.”

– Marlene

“A carefully produced and professionally fascinating podcast – Long Covid as the starting point, leading far into the world of pain. Highly recommended.”

– Alice

“Really well done! Fascinating for all of us in pain medicine too ... thank you. May the podcast reach many more people and connect neuroplastically minded professionals with people who are open to this approach 🤩🌸🌷”

– Bettina

“A podcast that gives hope! I recommend it in my practice. With medical hypnosis, imagination and neuroplasticity can make many things possible. Thank you very much for this great project!”

– Eva-Maria

Impressive, thoughtful, solid“An impressive, excellently researched and extremely compelling podcast series: sensitively told accounts from people affected; skilful interviews with experienced and convincing experts; scientifically careful, richly supported exploration; always thoughtful in its terminology and argumentation, always cautious, never sweeping, always precise.”

– Anonymous

“This podcast is a gift for everyone affected, their families, and those who may be affected in future. Thank you!”

– Anonymous

“Thank you for pointing this out. I’m affected too, and for me it is definitely taking longer. I’ve been doing PRT for 4.5 months now, but the progress is tiny. I think the podcast could have addressed this more, although otherwise I think it is excellent.”

– Anonymous

“Thank you for this podcast!! I too recovered with this approach over the past three years and did many similar exercises – first so-called brain-retraining exercises and later a lot of trauma-work exercises, all from the English-speaking world. I’m now delighted that this knowledge is reaching the German-speaking world too.”

– Anonymous

Found the missing piece!“An inspiring and thoroughly researched podcast – the missing link for me in treating patients with chronic complaints or functional symptoms. Thank you very much!”

– Anonymous

“Thanks again for the podcast! Three other options on Spotify – among countless others – for exploring neuroplastic symptoms further: audiobook: The Way Out in English by Alan Gordon (very well narrated by the author himself); podcast: Superhelden ohne Cape – about recovery from chronic illness; podcast: Muss das so weh tun?”

– Anonymous

“It really is a great podcast. A friend with Long Covid recommended it to me; I have Long Covid myself. It had me thinking after just the third episode. I learned far more from it than after seven weeks of rehabilitation on the Hasliberg, where there is a special Long Covid programme. Health insurers could save a lot of money if everyone listened to your podcast before doing an expensive rehabilitation programme – one that does not help in the long term and may even worsen their condition.”

– Nessi

“Fascinating, informative and easy to follow.”

– Anonymous

“Thank you very much for this podcast. Finally, LC / ME/CFS and recovery are being viewed from a different perspective. I began my own recovery journey almost two years ago and know the aha moment. I consciously and unconsciously implemented many of the aspects discussed in the podcast and am healthy today. Thank you for this valuable work!”

– Dominique

“Thank you as well for your commitment! I was ‘lucky’ that my ME/CFS was only diagnosed relatively recently, at a time when so much knowledge from patients was already available and I did not believe the prevailing narrative. So thank you to you and to everyone who shares their stories and knowledge. Unfortunately I find it difficult to listen to the podcast because there is background music most of the time. But it’s great that there is a website too.”

– Anonymous

“Thank you very much for the work and for giving people hope 👍🏻”

– Tobias

“Thank you, thank you, thank you for your encouraging contributions. Even though I’m still experiencing more setbacks, I’m not giving up and I take pleasure in small things: more light in the room, eating while sitting up, watching TV on my phone, reading and remembering what I have read, creative painting on the sofa ... My energy is used up, but I still wanted to thank you again for your completely new approach. As Zita said, I am also aware that it does not help everyone. My faith in God also helps me on extremely difficult days. 💚🤝🙏🦋🌻 Not giving up hope and trusting in another miracle from God. I’m so happy for those who have recovered.”

– Warm regards, Marion 🦋😊

“This really gives hope! I have fatigue after cancer, but it gives us new possibilities too. Of course I’m going to try it, and I finally feel hopeful again. A thousand thanks 💗 🌻 🌻 🌻”

– Anonymous

Media coverage

Reprogramming the brain against Long Covid – hope or danger? 24.08.2026 - Tamedia
The so-called neuroplastic approach to Long Covid is sparking heated debate. While people who have recovered swear by it, organisations warn of irreversible harm.
“Fear stood in the way of recovery” 02.07.2026 - WOZ
Patricia Purtschert, professor of gender studies at the University of Bern, talks about her recovery.
Long Covid robbed Jasna Cotting of her joy in life – then she tried a controversial therapy 26.06.2026 - Die Welt
Doctor Jasna Cotting completely collapsed after being diagnosed with Long Covid. She did not want to go on living like that. Then she heard about a controversial therapy – and tried it.
Is Long Covid curable after all? A new theory divides those affected into two camps 20.06.2026 - Schweiz am Wochenende
Training is intended to teach patients’ brains that physical activity is not dangerous. What is behind this promise of a cure?
Back on the summit after Long Covid therapy 15.06.2026 - Tages-Anzeiger | Der Bund
Doctor and avid mountaineer Jasna Cotting could do little but lie in bed after work. She recovered using the controversial neuroplastic method. And she is not the only one.
Statement on the article “Recovery in three days?” 21.05.2026 - WOZ
This article contains false statements and misleading representations and breaches basic journalistic principles. The WOZ editorial team acknowledged errors in the article’s production to us. We argue for investing energy not in either-or thinking, but in constructive debate. The aim should be to examine all possible paths to improvement openly and responsibly.
How a young man from Fribourg overcame Long Covid 29.04.2026 - SRF
Jann Zosso developed Long Covid. Today he is healthy again. In a podcast, he explains how he found out for himself what helped him.
Listening your way back to health 24.04. - 07.05.2026 - SURPRISE Street Magazine no. 624
In the podcast “So Long Covid”, journalist Zita Bauer and physicist Jann Zosso tell stories of recovery that place the nervous system at the centre.
Woman from Tübach wants to give people with Long Covid hope with a new podcast 21.04.2026 - Tagblatt
Zita Bauer witnessed what Long Covid meant for her partner – and how recovery could happen. Now the two want to use a podcast to show other people affected a still little-known path out of the illness.
“So long, Covid!”: Two people who recovered tell their stories 16.03.2026 - Freiburger Nachrichten
Jann Zosso’s and Jasna Cotting’s Long Covid became progressively worse – until they came across a new treatment approach. For them, it changed everything.
Long Covid – “We want to broaden the debate” 13.03.2026 - Radio Rabe