Yet you may be surprised to find that when the day comes, the anxiety you’ve felt during this pandemic year isn’t so quick to melt away. That’s what Stina Wedlock discovered. The 52-year-old physician in Indianapolis has been vaccinated for months now, yet she still feels reluctant to return to some of her favorite activities. “I loved going to the theater. I’ve even traveled across the country and to the United Kingdom to see my favorite actors in plays,” she says. “Now, I don’t know if I’ll ever see my favorite artists live again.” Daisy Arthur, 24, from Toronto, is still waiting for her vaccine, but she doesn’t imagine that the shot will bring much relief from her percolating anxiety, at least not right away. “Even when we were allowed to gather with a few friends in a park on a sunny day, it was stress-inducing,” she reflects. “It feels like you’re doing something wrong.” According to the American Psychological Association’s 2021 Stress in America report, nearly half of American adults predict that they will feel uneasy about in-person interactions once the pandemic ends. Black Americans, in particular, are most likely to say they will feel unease, with 60 percent reporting they feel nervous about the transition back to normal life. What’s most surprising is that those who have already received a COVID-19 vaccine are just as likely as people who haven’t to say they are jittery about going back to the way life was before. RELATED: Coronavirus Alert: The Latest News, Data, and Expert Insights on the COVID-19 Pandemic “We like routines. They produce predictability, allow us to plan ahead and have control over our environment,” says Stefan Hofmann, PhD, director of the Psychotherapy and Emotion Research Laboratory at the Boston University Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders in Massachusetts. As soon as those routines change, however, we feel as if we have no control. “That creates a great deal of stress and anxiety,” says Dr. Hofmann. “The key term is unpredictability.” To make matters worse, the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health organizations have been changeable throughout the pandemic, creating uncertainty and stress. Most recently, advice about activities that fully vaccinated people can do safely has been confusing and even contradictory. Is it safe to travel by air, or no? Is it essential to quarantine after a trip, or no? The recommendations, it seems, shift by the day, along with our tension levels. “Recently, I flew to Maine for family reasons,” she says. “The larger airports were crowded, filled with people going on vacation, kids everywhere and long lines of people waiting to board,” she describes. “It was hard to keep distant.” Her nervousness intensified on the plane. “When I saw that every seat was full, I was horrified,” she says. “Everyone was wearing their mask and the flight attendants were vigilant, but I’d not been in such a small space with so many people in a very long time.” That fear is natural. ”Being anxious about going back to in-person life means our survival instincts are kicking in,” says Hofmann. Research backs that up: An April 2020 study in Nature Human Behavior found that the way people behave in a pandemic is largely tied to their perception of threat. With case numbers still high around much of the United States and around the world, and concern about the rise of extra-infectious coronavirus variants, that sense of threat is still very real even as more and more Americans get vaccinated. “My anxiety isn’t so much about getting COVID-19 as it is a fear that we are relaxing too soon,” says Wedlock. “We won’t be out of the woods until everyone has been vaccinated around the world.” RELATED: The Lasting Impact of COVID-19: How Will It Affect Our Mental Health?
To Reduce Anxiety, Create a New Normal
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to dial down COVID-19 stress, whether or not you are vaccinated. Coming up with a new routine to replace your pandemic rituals (such as a weekly Zoom call with friends) is a key way to introduce some level of predictability into post-pandemic life. That’s because the routines of daily life have a big impact on how we view the world: A September 2018 study in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Review found that having a routine was strongly associated with the feeling of living a meaningful life. So go ahead and commit to a weekly outdoor workout or walk with a friend. But just because you adopt new rituals doesn’t mean you have to toss out habits you’ve acquired during the pandemic, particularly if they feel beneficial, like one quarantine favorite: baking bread. RELATED: 7 Tips for Staying Active During a Pandemic
Make a Leap Into the Future
Think about making a travel plan for the fall, or any time a few months out from now. “Arranging future travel plans will give you a sense of positivity,” says Hofmann. Plus, scheduling concrete experiences will ensure that you move forward even if it feels scary. ”Forcing yourself into situations that may make you anxious, even once it’s safe to do so, can be the best way to overcome those anxieties,” says Hofmann.
Work Within Your Comfort Zone
Rather than going to a movie theater or eating indoors at a restaurant, you may want to try outdoor socializing with a small group of vaccinated people you’ve been Zooming with already. In other words, take it slow. If it makes you feel safer to wear a mask, even when you’re with a vaccinated group, do it. Says Hoffman: “Masks will likely be a part of life moving forward anyway, especially during cold and flu season.”
But Push Your Limits a Bit
For people with a preexisting social anxiety disorder, more than a year of lockdowns and physical distancing has likely taken a toll and perhaps exacerbated anxious tendencies. But it’s crucial for people with social anxiety to fight the urge to remain isolated. “Fully exposing yourself to things that make you feel threatened is the best way to overcome social anxiety,” says Hofmann. If you feel like you need extra support, a therapist may help.
Treat Yourself With Love
Most of all, be kind to yourself as life begins to return to its pre-pandemic rhythms. Because the only sure thing in this uncertain world is that you will feel nervous, tentative, hopeful, sorrowful, confused — often all at the same time. Ultimately, though, connection will prevail, because humans are hardwired to connect. “It felt wonderful to hug my parents again, once we were all vaccinated,” says Wedlock. “And I’m looking forward to seeing my friends once they are vaccinated. I trust the vaccines and science.”
