Category: Psychological and Sociological Impact
The Pandemic’s Surprising Effect on Suicide Rates
The Atlantic Suicide rates typically go down in times of crisis. Why? In March 2020, my partner, Amie; our 2-year-old son, Ratna; and I, who usually live in Kansas City, Missouri, were visiting Kerala, India, about to be in the throes of the country’s first COVID outbreak. When it became clear that Kerala was going […]
Apr 25, 2023
Trapped With COVID
The Atlantic Inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary, we faced a new kind of enemy. The first prisoner to die was 69 years old, a wheelchair-using former printing-press operator who called himself Cap. He’d arrived at the penitentiary from Orleans Parish in the winter of 1978 with a life sentence for murder. He was overweight and […]
Apr 11, 2023
Greater traditionalism predicts COVID-19 precautionary behaviors across 27 societies
Nature People vary both in their embrace of their society’s traditions, and in their perception of hazards as salient and necessitating a response. Over evolutionary time, traditions have offered avenues for addressing hazards, plausibly resulting in linkages between orientations toward tradition and orientations toward danger. Emerging research documents connections between traditionalism and threat responsivity, including […]
Apr 11, 2023
1.5 Million People in Japan Are Living as ‘Recluses’ After Covid
Bloomberg About 1.5 million people of working age in Japan are estimated to be living as recluses, with some 20% citing the Covid pandemic for their withdrawal, a government survey showed. Hikikomori, as they are called in Japanese, are defined as those who rarely leave their room or house, and only to shop at a […]
Apr 4, 2023
Long COVID Is Making Some People Choose Not to Have Kids
Time For a long time, Tessa thought about freezing her eggs once she turned 30, so she and her partner could have a child when they felt ready. But her 30th birthday came and went in March, and she’s made no moves to act on her plan. Tessa, who lives in Massachusetts and asked to be identified […]
Apr 4, 2023
End of Covid Emergency Will Usher in Changes Across the US Health System
KHN The Biden administration’s decision to end the covid-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the health care system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for covid tests. In response to the pandemic, the federal government in 2020 suspended many of its rules on how care is delivered. That […]
Mar 28, 2023
Science of forgetting: Why we’re already losing our pandemic memories
Washington Post Because of information overload and the monotony of pandemic life, your brain may already be forgetting parts of the covid years. How much do you remember about the past three years of pandemic life? How much have you already forgotten? A lot has happened since the “Before Times.” Canceled proms, toilet paper shortages, nightly applause […]
Mar 28, 2023
House votes unanimously to declassify U.S. intelligence on covid origins
Washington Post In a rare show of bipartisanship near the third anniversary of the pandemic, the House voted unanimously Friday to declassify all U.S. intelligence information on the origins of the coronavirus. The 419-0 vote in favor of the bill, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent last week,sends it to President Biden’s desk. If the bill […]
Mar 14, 2023
Is the COVID-19 pandemic over? Here’s why the answer is political, social, scientific, and complex
Fast Company The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic three years ago today, but experts disagree about how and when pandemics end. It’s been three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. So we know when the pandemic officially began. But what must happen for it to officially end? Who even makes the […]
Mar 14, 2023
Association of healthcare worker behaviors with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk during four pandemic periods and characteristics associated with high-risk behaviors
(Cambridge Press) In a large healthcare worker cohort, we quantified the association between behaviors and risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during different pandemic phases, adjusting for prior infection and vaccination. Individual characteristics, including personal concerns, were associated with these behaviors. Public health messaging should target high-risk populations and behaviors as the pandemic evolves. Transmission […]
Mar 14, 2023