Yes, the vaccines are largely keeping us alive and out of the hospital, but this disease is taking a great toll on everyone’s mental state. Even the vaccinated like me are experiencing tremendous guilt and confusion during the onset of omicron. My mother-in-law told my wife that I only have myself to blame for not being careful. The next day, she was coughing and tired but told my wife she had a cold.

Ilene Weingarten, a marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles, explained the narrowing of our lives this way to The Washington Post:

“We’re still absorbing the shock of March 2020, but we’re still in it. … It has an immense mental health toll, immense; with omicron in particular, there’s been a spike in disheartened feelings, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.”

And just like that, we are again avoiding indoor dining, not seeing family, taking out food, Zooming with friends, and listening to every word from the experts, but the more this goes on, the less it seems we know and the more fatigued and confused we are.