WHOOP and Mental Health: What the New York Post Actually Says About Stress

The New York Post ran a piece yesterday with the headline "WHOOP reveals shock mental health trends — including when stress levels spike." Sounds dramatic. But dig into it, and you hit a problem: the original WHOOP analysis behind the article isn't publicly available. No report, no methodology, no raw numbers. We just have a journalist's summary.

So instead of parroting "shocking trends" as gospel, let me take a different approach. What does the New York Post actually claim, what makes sense, and what can you verify yourself on your own wrist.

What the New York Post Claims

The article describes WHOOP analyzing stress data from its users and identifying patterns — specifically which days and periods show stress spikes. According to the Post, the data shows stress peaks follow a regular weekly and seasonal rhythm, and many users don't realize they're chronically stressed until they look at the numbers.

That's pretty intuitive. Monday morning is worse than Saturday afternoon — shocking, I know.

The problem: the Post doesn't cite specific numbers, sample size, or methodology. We don't know if WHOOP analyzed data from thousands of people or millions. We don't know if it's global data or just the US market. And most importantly — we don't know exactly how they defined "stress" in their Stress Monitor.

Info

The original WHOOP report or press release behind these claims wasn't publicly available at the time of writing. All claims about trends come from the New York Post's interpretation. I'm taking it with a grain of salt and recommend you do the same.

How WHOOP Actually Measures Stress

Quick version, since I've covered this in more detail in my piece on recovery scores: WHOOP's Stress Monitor combines heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate (RHR), skin temperature, and electrodermal activity (EDA). From that, it tells you whether you're calm, mildly stressed, or something's eating at you.

Does it work? In my experience — mostly yes. But it has limits. Coffee, a badly digested lunch, or mild dehydration can move the numbers as much as real psychological stress.

My Experience: October, My Daughter, and Red Numbers

This is why the New York Post piece caught my attention, even though I don't fully trust it. Last October, my daughter started preschool. Classic scenario — two weeks of tears at drop-off, then she brought home every virus circulating in the classroom. Meanwhile, I was managing a work release and doing night duty at home.

WHOOP showed my recovery below 40% for three straight weeks. The Stress Monitor glowed orange or red almost every morning. My resting heart rate jumped six beats above my summer average, and my HRV dropped from a typical 45 ms to 28-32 ms.

Did I know I was stressed? Of course. But I didn't know how much. And more importantly — I didn't realize it hadn't improved even after two weeks when I felt like things were settling down. Subjectively, I'd adapted. The data said otherwise.

And that's exactly what I think the New York Post is describing. People adapt to chronic stress. Your body doesn't.

What to Take From This (and What Not To)

What makes sense:

Track your own stress trends over time — not absolute numbers, but direction. Is your HRV dropping for three weeks straight? That's a signal.
Compare yourself to yourself, not to population averages from an American tabloid article.
Treat the Stress Monitor as one indicator, not a diagnosis.

What doesn't make sense:

Reading New York Post headlines as scientific conclusions.
Thinking WHOOP will tell you why you're stressed. It just tells you that you are.
Ignoring context — stress on WHOOP can be a cold, alcohol, or just a poorly placed sensor.

The Bottom Line: Data Without Context Is Just Numbers

I like that WHOOP is pushing the conversation toward mental health. It's an important topic, and wearables have real potential to show people what they don't see themselves.

But this particular New York Post article is more PR than analysis. Until WHOOP publishes the original data, methodology, and sample size, these are just "shocking trends" with no way to verify them.

What you can do: open the WHOOP app, switch to the monthly view of your Stress Monitor, and look at your own patterns. That's your dataset. And it's more reliable than any headline.