COVID Anxiety in post-COVID Society

A year ago, society as we knew it would experience an event that would be the fall for some, the rise for others and trauma for all in one way or another. A reoccurring theme I have found over conversation with friends, acquaintances and strangers is their belief that lockdown has stripped them of their ability to traverse the social landscape. They know COVID’s lasting impact on them - even before they’ve experienced it - is the social anxiety they will come to know when it’s all over. This begs the question for these individuals – “When the masks are off, will mine still be on?”. This is a call for us to be kinder when COVID is a thing of the past. Anxiety finds its way to last, so we all need to make the effort to be inclusive and considerate. We know not what hides behind the mask.

Acknowledgements: Firuza Mamedova, Adriana Trujillo Arocha, Min Yuan Chang, Oluwaseun Agbede