Similar to what happened at the beginning of the pandemic, anxiety has become a serious problem for many people — including those who had never experienced it before. “As humans, we thrive when we feel safe and secure, yet the ongoing and unpredictable nature of the pandemic has made inconsistency and a lack of safety the new, unhealthy normal,” says Dr. Carla Marie Manly, a clinical psychologist practicing in Sonoma County, California.
As a result, our fight-or-flight response is constantly triggered, leaving us mentally and physically exhausted and stressed. “Our natural, instinctive physiological fear reaction to the ongoing threat of Covid and an ever-changing world leaves us perpetually on edge,” Manly tells Rolling Stone.
And like the anxiety we experienced in early 2020, Metzger says that we’re once again facing what she calls the “sudden doom” effect. “In the spring of this year, we thought the worst was behind us, as events started to be rescheduled, more people were getting vaccinated, and mask mandates were being lifted,” she explains. “It appeared that we were approaching the light at the end of the tunnel. Delta is a whole new tunnel that we had no idea we would enter.”
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