Marlen Reusser used hypnosis to cure long Covid

Marlen Reusser used an atypical method to treat this illness, from which she is now cured but which ruined almost the entirety of her 2024.

Sabine Kuster / CH media

At the end of October, Swiss cyclist Marlen Reusser not only announced her transfer to the Spanish team Movistar, but also that she was doing better.

The silver medalist in the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics contracted Covid-19 in February. At the end of March, she still participated in the Tour of Flanders, but with serious damage after a fall: a broken jaw, damage to her ear canals and eight damaged teeth.

When she exerted herself, her symptoms worsened, the fever returned, she was exhausted and stayed at home almost all the time. His cycling career was on the line.

But Marlen Reusser is now back. On Monday, in front of the press, she confirmed that she had all the major objectives in her sights for 2025: the Vuelta, the Tour de France, the Giro and the world championships in Rwanda. She is doing great and training at full capacity.

In November, the three-time European time trial champion posted a video on Instagram in which she explains what helped her during her illness:

In this video, she refers to a certain Dr Will Bostock, who works in a clinic specializing in long Covid, in Great Britain. In an interview on Youtube, he compares the body, in this disease, to a car whose oil level indicator light flashes even though the tank is full. In other words: the hardware is in order, the problem must therefore be found at another level of the system. And this elsewhere, for people sick with long Covid, is the head.

Marlen Reusser’s publication

After its publication, more than a thousand people wrote to Marlen Reusser to ask how people could recover from long Covid using mental well-being. On Monday, the cyclist recounted her approach.

Internet searches and files audio

While lying in bed in despair, she did some research on the internet – after a recommendation from someone else – about hypnosis to treat long-term Covid.

Even today, we cannot know if this method has a direct impact on the recovery from long Covid. But a study recently published in the specialized journal BMJ shows that it is worth improving mental health because it ‘could’ alleviate long Covid symptoms.

The official file intended for Swiss doctors treating this disease also mentions hypnosis as a way to relieve symptoms:

Marlen Reusser claims to have felt improvement after each hypnosis session. She didn’t see a therapist, but used an audio file that she listened to over and over. In fact, as a trained doctor, she was initially very closed to hypnosis. “I was physically ill, so I doubted whether I could do anything in my body thanks to my head,” rewinds the time trial specialist.

She says the fact that it worked changed her view of traditional medicine. She now sees body and mind less clearly separated.

Marlen Reusser used hypnosis to treat her long Covid.Image: keystone

The Bernoise emphasizes, however, that this is probably not a recipe for everyone and does not exclude that it is simply a spontaneous recovery, as is often the case during the first six months in patients. suffering from long Covid.

And peaceful mind and danger

Chantal Britt, president of the Long Covid Suisse association, sees the beneficial effects of a peaceful mind in treating this disease:

Doctors specializing in long Covid confirm that having social and financial security plays a positive role in recovery, as does reducing stress.

But to relax mentally, you need the necessary time and means. “I had every resource you could imagine. Not everyone has them, far from it,” recognizes Marlen Reusser. She was thus able to concentrate fully on healing, unlike people who live in precarious situations, for example.

Marlen Reusser, silver medalist in the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics. Image: KEYSTONE

If mental relaxation, as Marlen Reusser practiced it, is recommended in the treatment of long Covid, Chantal Britt recalls that it is illusory – even dangerous – to rely solely on this to cure this disease.

“These strategies improve well-being and resilience, but the main symptoms of stress intolerance and fatigue generally remain unchanged,” notes the president of the Long Covid Suisse association. She also notes the risk of self-blame – if we think that meditation is the only way to cure long Covid – in people who are unable to heal, who would then feel ineffective.

For Marlen Reusser, this illness is now behind her. The 2021 Olympic vice-champion explains that she no longer wants to think about everything she missed in 2024, notably the world championships in Switzerland and the Paris Olympics. She will make her return at the end of January during a race in Mallorca.

Translation and adaptation into French: Yoann Graber