Fatigue is a common consequence of the Covid pandemic, but one survey found it may hit men and women at different rates.
As the pandemic enters its third year, more and more people are feeling tired - and not because they've come down with the virus.
Specifically, more women (40 percent) reported feeling tired due to the pandemic than men (34 percent), according to a WebMD poll, The Mirror reported.
Covid fatigue was defined as "being angry, exhausted, frustrated or just plain fed up with disruptions to your life or those of your family and friends" in the poll.
This poll did not necessarily record symptoms, but how people have been reacting to the recent circumstances.
Men and women have been coping or struggling with the pandemic in different ways.
A WebMD poll taken from December 23, 2021 to January 4, 2022 looked at if 'Covid fatigue' affects men and women differently.
It found that 34 percent of men answered they felt fatigued as a result of the pandemic, but this applied to 40 percent of women.
People said they were feeling fatigued due to the restrictions the pandemic has caused, rather than due to actual symptoms.
The WebMD poll also illuminated how younger people are having a harder time with the pandemic.
The poll said: "Among those younger than 45, almost half (46%) said they felt Covid fatigue daily, compared with 31% of their 45-and-older colleagues. 27% in the younger group said they had the fatigue a few times a week, as opposed to 18% in the older group. Four times as many in the older group (21%, vs. 5%) said they rarely had the symptoms."
Why is the pandemic making me tired?
It is still hard to say if there are true differences between how Omicron affects men and women and if it does so differently. More research needs to be done to confirm anything.
Further research also needs to look into if the actual circumstances of how the pandemic is affecting people, as the WebMD poll may help indicate.
Minnesota-based clinician Stacy Boone-Vikingson told Healthline : "We’re seeing a lot more patients complaining about not being able to sleep well, having the ‘not having a lot of energy’ type of feeling."
She went on: "Not knowing from day to day what work is going to look like or schools will look like for their kids… that’s definitely been a switch up for them, having everybody at home all the time, and just having so many things going on in the home at one time where they can’t get that break they need."
