Publications - Stress

The Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School, and Struggling, by Claire Cain Miller and Sarah Mervosh, The New York Times, Jul 1 2024.

“The pandemic’s babies, toddlers and preschoolers are now school-age, and the impact on them is becoming increasingly clear: Many are showing signs of being academically and developmentally behind. Interviews with more than two dozen teachers, pediatricians and early childhood experts depicted a generation less likely to have age-appropriate skills — to be able to hold a pencil, communicate their needs, identify shapes and letters, manage their emotions or solve problems with peers. A variety of scientific evidence has also found that the pandemic seems to have affected some young children’s early development. Boys were more affected than girls, studies have found. ”

Lie down, sit still, take a break: Your brain needs a rest, by Jamie Friedlander Serrano, The Washington Post, Jun 29 2024.

“Downtime is a necessary part of life. Science shows it helps us to be healthier, more focused, more productive and more creative. Yet, somehow, we often lose sight of this. “Downtime is important for our health and our body, but also for our minds,” says Elissa Epel, a professor in the psychiatry department at the School of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. Epel and others acknowledge that many of us feel as though we’re wasting time if we aren’t getting things done, but research points to the costs of always being “on” and the importance of giving our brains a break. Our brains aren’t built to handle constant activity. ”

​Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere, by Sarah Mervosh and Francesca Paris, The New York Times, Mar 29 2024.

“In the four years since the pandemic closed schools, U.S. education has struggled to recover on a number of fronts, from learning loss, to enrollment, to student behavior. But perhaps no issue has been as stubborn and pervasive as a sharp increase in student absenteeism, a problem that cuts across demographics and has continued long after schools reopened. Nationally, an estimated 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic, according to the most recent data, from 40 states and Washington, D.C., compiled by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason. ”

When Teens Visit Doctors, Increasingly the Subject is Mental Health, by Matt Richtel, The New York Times, Mar 7 2024.

“Increasingly, doctor visits by adolescents and young adults involve mental health diagnoses, along with the prescription of psychiatric medications. That was the conclusion of a new study that found that in 2019, 17 percent of outpatient doctor visits for patients ages 13 to 24 in the United States involved a behavioral or mental health condition, including anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm or other issues. That figure rose sharply from 2006, when just 9 percent of doctor’s visits involved psychiatric illnesses. The study, published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, also found a sharp increase in the proportion of visits involving psychiatric medications. In 2019, 22.4 percent of outpatient visits by the 13-24 age group involved the prescription of at least one psychiatric drug, up from 13 percent in 2006. The latest study does not posit a reason for the shift. But the pandemic alone was not to blame, it noted. “These findings suggest the increase in mental health conditions seen among youth during the pandemic occurred in the setting of already increasing rates of psychiatric illness,” wrote the authors, a pediatrician and psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School. “Treatment and prevention strategies will need to account for factors beyond the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic.” ”

Teen brains aged faster than normal from pandemic stress, study says, by Katherine Lewis Reynolds, The Washington Post, Dec 1 2022.

“The stress of pandemic lockdowns prematurely aged the brains of teenagers by at least three years and in ways similar to changes observed in children who have faced chronic stress and adversity, a study has found.  The study, published Thursday in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, was the first to compare scans of the physical structures of teenagers’ brains from before and after the pandemic started, and to document significant differences, said Ian Gotlib, lead author on the paper and a psychology professor at Stanford University.  Researchers knew teens had higher “levels of depression, anxiety and fearfulness” than “before the pandemic. But we knew nothing about the effects on their brains,” said Gotlib, who is director of the Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Laboratory. “We thought there might be effects similar to what you would find with early adversity; we just didn’t realize how strong they’d be.”  Premature aging of children’s brains isn’t a positive development. Before the pandemic, it was observed in cases of chronic childhood stress, trauma, abuse and neglect. These adverse childhood experiences not only make people more vulnerable to depression, anxiety, addiction and other mental illnesses, they can raise the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other long-term negative outcomes. ”

Here’s How to Cry the Right Way to Relieve Stress and Anxiety, by Elizabeth Bernstein, The Wall Street Journal, Jun 28 2022.

“Stressed out? Sleep deprived? Sad?  You may need a good cry. Crying is an important coping mechanism, psychologists say. It allows us to express difficult emotions. It may help reduce stress by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls the body’s ability to relax. And, perhaps most important, it allows us to solicit emotional support and bond.  “Suppression of painful emotions inhibits your ability to feel all emotions,” says Natalie Dattilo, a clinical psychologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “One of the best ways to feel better, and get better at feeling, is to cry.” ”

Hugs help women face stress, study says. Men, you are out of luck, by Madeline Holcombe, CNN, May 23 2022.

“You have a big test, a difficult conversation or a stressful day ahead -- how much of a difference could a hug from your partner make on your state of mind?  A hug can make a big difference for women, according to a new study. Unfortunately, the effect is not as powerful when it comes to men.  Researchers analyzed how 76 people responded to stress after a hug from a romantic partner in a study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. Women who got to hug their significant other showed a decrease in the production of cortisol -- a stress hormone -- compared with those who did not.  Cortisol can have an impact on memory recall, which could make the stressful task ahead even more difficult, said senior study author Julian Packheiser, a postdoctoral researcher with the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. ”

We Asked 1,320 Therapists What They’re Hearing From Patients, by Tara Parker-Pope, Christina Caron and Mónica Cordero Sancho, The New York Times, Dec 16 2021.

“As Americans head into a third year of pandemic living, therapists around the country are finding themselves on the front lines of a mental health crisis. Social workers, psychologists and counselors from every state say they can’t keep up with an unrelenting demand for their services, and many must turn away patients — including children — who are desperate for support. ”

Why people with mental illness are at higher risk of COVID, by RHITU CHATTERJEE , NPR, Nov 22 2021.

“Even before the federal government's recent decision last week to authorize COVID-19 boosters all adults, it had already recommended them in October for people with certain high-risk conditions. Along with with illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, that list included mental health conditions. ”

How to protect your mental health during the stressful holiday season, by Esmy Jimenez, Seattle Times, Nov 22 2021.

“Tis the season. Soon — or already in some cases — lights will go up, trees will be decorated (for those who celebrate), and families will come together to eat their Thanksgiving favorites. Many people are preparing to come together with loved ones for the holidays, after months of pandemic-forced distance. But with those holidays comes a slew of stress and complications: navigating complex family dynamics, intrusive questions from well-meaning aunties, and worries about money or how to make the most of the time away from work.  ”

How the Closure of In-School Learning Damaged U.S. Children's Mental Health During the Pandemic, by JEFFREY KLUGER , TIME, Apr 29 2021.

“The work, led by psychologist Tali Raviv at Northwestern University, involved a survey of more than 32,000 caregivers looking after children from kindergarten to grade 12 in the Chicago public school system. The definition of “caregiver” was broad, including parents and grandparents as well as anyone 18 or older with principal responsibility of caring for children in a household. The sample group of the families was ethnically and racially diverse—39.3% white, 30.2% Latinx; 22.4% Black; and 8.1% mixed. ”

The U.S. Is Opening Up. For the Anxious, That Comes With a Cost., by Matt Richtel, New York Times, Mar 17 2021.

“A new survey from the American Psychological Association found that while 47 percent of people have seen their stress rise over the pandemic, about 43 percent saw no change in stress and 7 percent felt less stress.   Mental health experts said this fraction of the population found the quarantine protective, a permission slip to glide into more predictable spaces, schedules, routines and relationships. And the experts warn that while quarantine has blessed the “avoidance” of social situations, the circumstances are poised to change. ”

Lawmakers push mental health days for kids amid pandemic, by Sopia Eppolitio, Associated Press, Jan 30 2021.

“State lawmakers are increasingly seeking more support for kids. This year, legislation proposed in Utah and Arizona would add mental or behavioral health to the list of reasons students can be absent from class, similar to staying out with a physical illness. Similar laws have passed in Oregon, Maine, Colorado and Virginia in the past two years. ”

Covid: The devastating toll of the pandemic on childre, by Nick Triggle, BBC, Jan 30 2021.

“They are not likely to get seriously ill with Covid and there have been very few deaths. But children are still the victims of the virus - and our response to it - in many other ways. From increasing rates of mental health problems to concerns about rising levels of abuse and neglect and the potential harm being done to the development of babies, the pandemic is threatening to have a devastating legacy on the nation's young. ”

Pandemic relief bill delivers $4.25 billion for mental health services, by William Wan, The Washington Post, Dec 21 2020.

“  The funding is the largest amount behavioral health groups have gotten in a spending bill. Advocates say more is needed to address historic levels of depression, substance abuse.   For almost a year, mental health advocates have urged the U.S. government to address Americans’ historic levels of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts — all of which have worsened during the pandemic. ”