When the world shut down in March 2020, few people imagined how different things would still look one year later – or that more than 500,000 Americans and 2.5 million people around the world would die from complications of COVID-19. APA’s Stress in America survey has been tracking the mental health toll this past year as Americans have dealt with lost jobs, shuttered schools, social isolation and the illness and death of loved ones. Vaile Wright, PhD, a clinical psychologist and the senior director of health care innovation at APA, talks about the state of our mental and physical health right now, how we are feeling about returning to our previous lives now that vaccines are providing some hope for an end to the pandemic, and what can each of us can do to ease stress and anxiety in the face of continuing uncertainty about what the future holds. Are you enjoying Speaking of Psychology? We’d love to know what you think of the podcast, what you would change about it, and what you’d like to hear more of. Please take our listener survey at www.apa.org/podcastsurvey. Links Vaile Wright, PhD APA's COVID-19 Resources Stress in America Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.