Social Anxiety After Covid
COVID vaccines can mean that the end of the pandemic is in sight. For some, the view does not look as good. It can be shameful to admit that certain components of stay-at-home mandates have not only been welcome, but downright joy-filled. People with social anxiety, introverts and others who find the “normal” expectations of life stressful woke up to a world that more closely resembled the one of their dreams.
When the merry-go-round of our former lives stopped abruptly last year, some people felt comfortable with the pace of life for the first time. Social isolation even allowed some people to attack significant problems in their lives. Some even experienced an uptick in their self-esteem, as they saw others discover what they had known all along about the benefits that can be derived from leading a more solitary life. People asked these introverts the secret to staying sane instead of judging them for being reclusive.
The respite from small talk, dressing for work and social obligations improved the mental health of those who do not enjoy these activities, but it also taught the rest of us that we could in fact be happy with fewer social interactions and external events than we ever could have imagined. What may have been a pre-existing condition for some is now a preferred state for many. But the looming reality of the world reopening is creating a huge amount of anxiety for them.
Nudging reluctant people who have grown accustomed to, and prefer, living in quarantine, back into society requires understanding. Simple changes such as asking, “How was your weekend?” rather than, “What did you do this weekend?” can elicit a broader range of responses and signal acceptance of something other than meeting pro forma societal expectations.
Perhaps the best advice, though, is for all of us to be prepared for the fact that the pandemic has changed us. For some people returning to the grocery store will be a victory, while others may be comfortable planning international vacations. What people do is not nearly as important as how they feel about creating a new normal. So rather than assuming everyone feels the same as they did before quarantine, we should be listening nonjudgmentally to whatever emotions are expressed as we resume life after the pandemic.
There is much to be gained whenever we make the effort to understand people different from ourselves. For those of us who welcome the end of quarantining, let us lend a hand to those for whom this change is bound to be hard and help ease their re-entry. And for those of us who dread the end of quarantine, let us continue to remind ourselves and others to try and retain the preferred aspects of quarantine even as the world spins faster once more.
Here are today’s Wellness Wednesday Program reading resources:
“How Pandemic Fatigue Made Us Antisocial,” The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, Kira M. Newman, March 30, 2021
“How to Deal with Social Anxiety after a Year of Social Distancing,” Health Essentials, Cleveland Clinic, Mental Health, June 17, 2021
“Managing Post-Pandemic Social Anxiety,” Cedars Sinai Blog, Los Angeles, June 7, 2021
