CU Anschutz neuroscientist Tracy Bale, PhD, explains how chronic pandemic stress may still be affecting mental health, brain function and the immune system years after COVID 19
Five years after the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, many people still say they feel more anxious, emotionally exhausted or socially disconnected than they did before 2020. Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz say these lingering effects may be tied to prolonged pandemic stress, a form of chronic uncontrollable stress that can reshape both brain and immune system function over time.
Laura Kelley, media relations program manager in the CU Anschutz Office of Communications, sits down with Tracy Bale, PhD, a nationally recognized neuroscientist and epigenetics researcher in the CU Anschutz School of Medicine, to discuss why stress from the pandemic may still affect mental health, behavior and physical well-being years later.
The Bale Lab researches how stress can be passed from one generation to the next, beginning even before conception. Bale explains the long-term effects of chronic stress on the brain and immune system, which groups remain most vulnerable and what recovery from pandemic-related anxiety and burnout can look like.
