Brace yourselves, The Evening Standard has some bad news for us. There’s a new public health crisis brewing. It published an article yesterday headlined, “Up to 300,000 People Facing Heart-Related Illnesses Due to Post-Pandemic Stress Disorder, Warn Physicians.” The paper warns of a new psychological condition that is just like PTSD, except it’s called PPSD. The Standard admits that the four-letter syndrome is not yet “officially recognized,” but says “many experts” believe it should be.

The Standard reports that Tahir Hussain, a senior vascular surgeon, says “I’ve seen a big increase in thrombotic-related vascular conditions in my practice. Far younger patients are being admitted and requiring surgical and medical intervention than prior to the pandemic… We also have evidence that some patients have died at home from conditions such as pulmonary embolism and myocardial infarction.”

So strange! What could be causing this sudden unexplained jump in thrombosis? Dr. Hussain has a theory to explain this mysterious increase. According to the good doctor,” It’s STRESS!”. “I believe many of these cases are a direct result of the increased stress and anxiety levels caused from the effects of PPSD,” he said.

But what, exactly, is his evidence that these cases were a result of pandemic stress? Could it be, elevated serotonin levels? Increased adrenaline in patients? Concurrent anxiety disorder diagnoses? Sorry folks, the article doesn’t say. Nor does it mention what those who’re reading this are thinking, starts with a “V” and ends with an “E” and is 7 letters in total.

Dr. Hussain any guesses?