Virtual Media Briefing: The growing mental burden of a yearlong pandemic

It's been almost a year since the U.S. first locked down in the face of COVID-19. The stress and uncertainty wrought by the last 12 months have exacerbated existing mental health challenges and created new ones.

Three Duke experts will discuss the effects and the need for a societal response during a video conference call for the media also available for general viewing on YouTube.

This is the 50th virtual media briefing Duke has held with its experts over the last year to address the pandemic, politics, racial justice and other issues.

Anna Gassman-Pines is an associate professor of public policy, psychology and neuroscience, and faculty affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy. She studies low-wage work, family life and the effects of welfare and employment policy on child and maternal well-being, and the effects of job loss on children's test scores.

Robin Gurwitch is a professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine and director of parent-child interaction therapy at the Center for Child and Family Health. She studies the impact of trauma on children and families.

Jennifer Plumb-Vilardaga is a clinical psychologist with Duke Health and an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the addiction division at the Duke University School of Medicine.