Covid-19 brought with it a tsunami of fear. For some people, it brought fear of the virus. Fear of illness and death. For others, it brought fear of government responses to the virus. Fear of lockdowns and the loss of freedom. Fear of financial ruin. Fear of isolation and unremitting diktats and restrictions.
Whatever its cause, in fear's wake is stress, and longstanding stress, as a huge body of research attests, is about as good for us as a night-shift job in a uranium mine. It saps joy from living, making us more prone to mood disorders and aggression, weakens immune function, can lead to chronic disease, and shaves years off of our life expectancy in the process.1 The devastating impact of stress on mental and cardiovascular health and even cancer is well documented. A new field of study looks at the “brain-skin axis”: researchers are studying the complex ways that stress activates a cascade of negative hormonal, nervous system and immune system changes, confirming the common experience of flaring rashes, breakouts of acne or itchy eczema accompanying the death of a loved one, a divorce or a lockdown.2
The pandemic effects
During the Covid pandemic, diagnoses of inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema soared, according to data from a recent survey of 1,000 Britons by the Skin Life Sciences Foundation (SLSF).
Rates of eczema quadrupled during Covid restrictions, with more than 40 percent of all Britons suffering from skin issues, compared to the 10 percent reported by the National Eczema Society. Of those, 66 percent of those suffering from eczema, dermatitis or psoriasis blamed their condition on stress and anxiety, with many citing the Covid pandemic as the cause.
“We were already seeing a significant increase in problems, but when Covid-19 reached the UK we saw an explosion in skin issues, largely a result of extra hand washing and use of hand sanitizers,” according to Dr Nisa Aslam, a London physician with the skin foundation (see box, page 57).
“Rates of eczema quadrupled during Covid restrictions, with more than 40% of all Britons suffering from skin issues and many citing pandemic stress as the cause”
Children affected
Five-year-old Grace Ferris of Grimsby in the UK was returning home from school in 2021 with hands “red raw”
