So…We’re Supposed to Go Back to Normal Life Now?
Grappling with pandemic trauma in a rapidly shifting world
Two months ago, every article I read about Covid-19 talked about how virulent the Omicron strain is — so much so that the masks we were using would not work to prevent its spread, according to the experts. They recommended purchasing N95 masks.
Even as the pandemic seemed to be winding down in intensity, I found myself feeling more anxious. The N95 masks were exceptionally uncomfortable and made me feel lightheaded, due to their thickness and lack of air circulation.
But I had Covid once and I’d really, really prefer not to get it again. I suppose it is inevitable, just as my first experience with it was inevitable, but I absolutely never want to go through that again.
So I suffered through my outings with the N95.
And then, two months later, the mask mandate ended.
I hadn’t much thought about that. But once it came, I found myself experiencing intense anxiety.
We went from N95s to nothing in the space of a couple months and after two years of pandemic trauma, I feel frozen in fear.
Two years ago, just before my nephew Alex’s first birthday, we went into lockdown.
