Are you irritable? Exhausted? Unable to stick to a running routine or get through a day of work without a case of the grumpies? You’re not alone—living through a pandemic, as it turns out, has put most of us in a bad place emotionally and physically, according to new research by the American Psychological Association (APA).
The prolonged stress on everybody, no matter what our individual circumstances, is creating a new wave of pandemic-related health risks that will extend past the more immediate COVID-19 concerns, experts predict. According to the APA “Stress in America” survey, which was released in March, 61 percent of adults experienced an undesired weight change since the pandemic started in 2020, with 42 percent reporting weight gain (an average of 29 pounds) and 18 percent saying they lost an average of 26 pounds.