Señora Era Wellness Q&A: A Doctor on Stress, Long COVID, & the Path Back to Yourself

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For some mujeres in our community, the past few years have brought a new kind of exhaustion: lingering fatigue, brain fog, pain that comes and goes, and a quiet fear that your body isn’t “your body” anymore. These symptoms aren’t always explained by labs or scans, yet they feel deeply, undeniably real.

According to new research, nearly half of Americans live with ongoing pain or illness that isn’t tied to structural damage or a clear diagnosis. These are often neuroplastic symptoms, which are real physical sensations generated by changes in the brain’s signaling pathways due to stress, trauma, emotions, or life overload.

We sat down with David D. Clarke, MD, president of the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms, to talk about why so many people – and especially women – feel this way, and how healing can begin with understanding, compassion, and science-backed tools.

Q&A With Dr. David D. Clarke

1. Why does long COVID make the body feel unfamiliar?

Dr. Clarke:
“The many symptoms attributed to or labeled as Long Covid probably have more than one cause. But for many people, their Covid infection was a ‘last straw’ added to an existing load of stress, trauma, unrecognized emotions, long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences, and other life challenges. The result is physical change (neuroplastic change) in nerve pathways in the brain, demonstrated in several studies of people with symptoms that overlap with Long Covid. This changes the way sensory signals coming from the body are processed and also changes signals sent by the brain to the body. The result is a body that no longer feels familiar and this can be exacerbated if the person’s stress level increases.”

2. What helps people feel less afraid of fluctuating symptoms?

Dr. Clarke:
“The fluctuating symptoms are a common sign of a neuroplastic condition which is good news because effective treatment is now available. Most important as a first step is to recognize that when medical diagnostic evaluation is normal, it is very likely that symptoms are being generated by neuroplastic change in the brain rather than organ disease or structural damage. People should be reassured by this that permanent damage or disability are highly unlikely even when symptoms are severe. Reducing fear about damage and disability is one of the best initial steps for people with Long Covid and by itself can reduce symptoms. Next they can focus their attention on the issues in Question 3 which will provide further healing benefit.”

3. How can people explore old stresses and emotions without self-blame?

Dr. Clarke:
“A person with neuroplastic symptoms (including Long Covid) resembles an Olympic weightlifter who is obliged, without being informed, to carry 50 lb more than the world record for their weight class. They are strong people but they are not fully aware of the size of the burden.

What helps people with neuroplastic symptoms most is performing an inventory of their life stresses such as the Self Assessment Quiz at www.Symptomatic.me . This involves looking at:

– Present day life stresses
– Terrifying or horrifying traumatic events, especially if linked to or triggered around the time of the beginning of the pain or illness
– Strong negative emotions that might appear only in isolated outbursts or not at all
– Adverse childhood experiences that can be anything you would never want for a child of your own
– Stressful personality traits like caring for others but neglecting yourself, heavy self-criticism, not taking time for self-care, perfectionism
– Symptoms of depression such as low energy, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activity, sleeping difficulties, and more
– Excessive worry, anxiety, vigilance, or fear out of proportion to the reasons for them
– Triggering of stress by people, situations, or events that are highly challenging because of links to past adversity

The good news is that by addressing these issues, people with Long Covid can see remarkable improvement. Here is a blog post about a research study at Harvard that showed outstanding results.”