WHY AM I SICK...AGAIN?

It's puzzling: It seems as if everyone's UNDER THE WEATHER MORE FREQUENTLY these days than before the pandemic. But that perception may be A COVID MIND TRICK. Here, top doctors help us piece together the truth.

- KATE ROCKWOOD

You've likely noticed an unusual phenomenon unfolding since health officials deemed the COVID-19 global emergency a thing of the past: Your sick days seem to run out faster than before. Friends cancel plans more often (Not feeling well is an all-too-familiar text), tissue boxes and cold medicine packages empty at an alarming rate, and every time you're finally feeling back up to snuff, bam, there's another sore throat or runny nose to contend with. "It sure seems like we're getting sicker more often after the pandemic," says William Li, M.D., a physician and scientist and the author of the best-selling Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.

But is that really the case, or are people just more anxious about every little sniffle and cough-a sort of post-pandemic stress response? The reality is complicated, and scientific evidence that could affect the answer is still incoming. But as of now, health experts believe a petri dish of factors are influencing how we get ill and our response to it.

For one thing, the pandemic changed the way we think about sickness. Coughing, sneezing, and a case of the shivers have taken on added significance, and constantly having to think about whether we're coming down with something (and try to avoid getting others sick) has made us more vigilant about monitoring ourselves for potential health issues. "The smallest signs of feeling off are getting noticed more now than before," says Laura Iu, R.D.N., a certified intuitive eating counselor in New York City. "It may not be that people are actually getting sick more often-they may just be more tuned in."

IT'S NOT ALL IN YOUR HEAD

That's not to say there isn't actually more illness out there. Many pandemic precautions used to contain COVID-19 cases-including social distancing, mask wearing, and handwashinghave mostly gone away, lowering their impact in suppressing other illnesses.