I am sorry to hear of your experience with Covid! It makes total sense for you to be depressed after surviving with so many lingering side-effects: I only hope

I am sorry to hear of your experience with Covid! It makes total sense for you to be depressed after surviving with so many lingering side-effects: I only hope it improves for you going forward (and sooner, rather than later)! However, we need more papers like the OP to establish how many people are in the same boat as you, and out of all the "newly" depressed people, how many are due to actual lingering health issues, and how many are due to psychological stress caused by going through the illness that's so influential on the world today. During the lockdowns, I've messed up my back. While I originally went for physical therapy over the summer 2020, I don't feel comfortable doing that today because of COVID. The fact that I am not doing enough to "fix myself" is making me depressed. "Lockdowns" are a spectrum, and have also stopped people from potentially making changes they need to make: I don't think it's fair for you to discount it as a non-variable here. I am sure you are wondering aloud if you'll ever be "back to normal". So am I. But separating out all of these will help us understand COVID19 and its consequences, and help us adapt treatment to the actual causes.