There is a recurring pattern in the history of medicine that still pops up from time to time. When our understanding of a disease lags far behind the need for explanations, biology becomes a matter of one’s own perception. This inevitably shifts the burden of proof back onto the people we should be helping; those who suffer with the disease. A recent essay on Long COVID published in WIRED magazine leans into this familiar trope, reframing the condition as a matter of unrealistic expectations.