Overcoming COVID-19 Anxiety May Require Professional Help
Anxiety, a feeling of uneasiness or nervousness, is something most of us experience at some point in our lives. Usually, it is a perfectly normal response in times of uncertainty, change or challenging life situations.
For many of us, the anxiety we feel about COVID-19 comes and goes, but for others anxiety has become their constant companion. Among these people, for some their feelings of anxiety never increase but are continuous and persistent, leaving them emotionally exhausted. Others experience an increase in symptoms, experiencing anxiety as fear, dread and even panic. Read more ›
For the past 15 months, we’ve been carefully following safety protocols, and strict mandates have helped inform our decisions. Now, as we come out of our COVID caves, the rules are more ambiguous and varying comfort levels collide. It can create a whole new wave of anxiety around what feels safe, especially when our precautions don’t match those around us.
As vaccinations ramp up and restrictions begin to loosen across the country, the new question is: Are we ready? After so much time apart, do we even know how to socialize in person anymore?
People around the world have anticipated the moment when life can return to “pre-pandemic normal.” But as that reality seems within sight, many are now feeling increased anxiety about getting back into life. 
If you are a parent, the period of self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic may have been a difficult adjustment for your children. Similarly, the idea of going back into the world might leave your kids feeling anxious at the idea of another big change, or they could be looking forward to things going back to “normal” only to find that life still isn’t quite as they remember it.
Nothing about the past year has been easy for parents. They’ve lost loved ones, lost jobs. They’ve been cut off from their children’s grandparents, cut off from child care, cut off from friends and support systems. They’ve missed out on graduations and bar mitzvahs, proms and vacations. They’ve juggled remote school and remote jobs, or been forced to put themselves and their families at risk by continuing to leave the house for jobs that must be done in person. 
They are the people you love most in the world, but living 24/7 under one roof with your family is stressful and tension filled. Even small things that never bothered you are major irritants now. And now you have the added tension of re-entry – with different family members having different ideas about what that should look like. How do you as a parent navigate all of this and support your family? 
Nervous about going out into the world again? Here are tips from a neuroscientist, a therapist, a behavioral scientist and a psychologist. 
We all have some degree of ‘re-entry anxiety’ — whether it’s going back to the workplace, sending our kids to school, or re-engaging with friends and family. The very thing we want the most — to re-enter the world — is causing unease and apprehension. This online gathering features an in-depth conversation with a blue ribbon panel of experts who will offer insights and important practical advice on re-engaging. 
You’re a parent living through a pandemic, social unrest, economic uncertainty, wildfires and more. Life is unsettling right now, to say the least. Do you feel drained, overwhelmed and absolutely tired right down to your core? How can you keep your head above water?
