The Stress Of Dealing With COVID-19

Editor’s note: This story is part of a WUSF Public Media series titled “Unequal Shots,’’ stories that focus on the voices of residents in communities of color and how Florida’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and vaccine distribution affects them. The Florida Courier is providing the story through a partnership with WUSF.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to stress the mental health of many people. But it’s been especially hard for some Black Americans, who have been disproportionately affected by the virus and already faced barriers to care.

Vickye, 52, has Lupus, so like many people at risk for severe COVID-19, the St. Petersburg resident spent most of last year at home. She avoided getting sick, but quarantining took a toll in ways she said she couldn’t have imagined.

“You were trapped with yourself, you couldn’t go anywhere, so you had to face yourself and face your demons and whoever you were trapped with, their demons too,” she said.

Vickye was trapped with an abusive wife, which is why we’re not using her last name. Verbal assaults turned physical, until this past February, when Vickye said her now ex-wife shot her six times for threatening to leave.

Vickye has recovered physically for the most part and the case is working its way through the Pinellas County court system. But her emotional wounds are taking longer to heal.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to stress the mental health of many people. But it’s been especially hard for some Black Americans, who have been disproportionately affected by the virus and already faced barriers to care.

The CDC also says Black and Hispanic people were twice as likely to die from COVID-19 and nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized with the disease than whites. They were also more likely to lose work or have demanding front-line jobs.

“Stress related to the uncertainty and the impact of self-isolation, worrying about the transmission of COVID-19, concerns about job security, all likely exacerbated the feelings that people had,” said Reggie Williams, vice president of international health policy and practice innovations with the Commonwealth Fund.

Barriers to care

The murder of George Floyd and other police killings of Black individuals –and the civil unrest that followed – added more trauma.

The Commonwealth Fund surveyed residents of the United States and other high-income countries last year about their health concerns and Williams published an analysis of the mental health results this October.