Chronic Stress Is an Underestimated Pandemic Risk Factor

Americans who bear the most chronic stress — predominantly people of color — are at an especially high risk for the severe outcomes of Covid-19

Illustration: Inkee Wang

The pandemic is a stressful and traumatic experience for millions of people around the world. There’s constant feelings of lack of control, isolation, and fear of contracting Covid-19 and dying from it. Science has shown for decades that high levels of stress like this can put people’s immune systems at risk. And new data is showing that Americans who bear the most chronic stress seem to be at an especially high risk for the severe outcomes of Covid-19.

An alarmingly disproportionate number of people of color are dying from Covid-19, with Black people dying at 2.5 times the rate of white people, according to the Covid Tracking Project from Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research and The Atlantic. The stress of the economic downturn also lingers with data showing Black and Hispanic people are more likely to be laid off in the pandemic, as well as a looming eviction and housing crisis. On top of all that, there’s the global grappling on race in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. These kinds of stressors can influence bodies and behavior, and are an…