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Key points
- A rise in ‘re-opening anxiety’ has been documented, as successful vaccination campaigns allow for the relaxing of confinement measures.
- Introverts and people with OCD are thought to be more fearful of re-opening, but there could be a more collective ‘cave syndrome.’
- The truth may be that some people's ‘deep social tissue’ has become atrophied.
Imagine you’ve been single for a long time. Sure, a part of you would like to have a companion, but the thought of going on a date, telling your life story again, trying to feel comfortable with a new person—it all just fills you with dread.
Despite rejoicing at the good news about vaccines, that’s how many of us feel about the world reopening. For some, it could just be that they are introverted, and that the slower pace, the down-time of being in their own bubble, will be hard to give up. For others, it could be that they just can’t shake off the fear of germs, and the thought of being on a crowded bus again is just terrifying. People may find being stuck in traffic a little more stressful than before. They may feel a subtle anxiety being away from home.
What’s going on is a subtle — but deep — sense of collective atrophy, deep in our muscles. Think of it as muscle loss when we stop exercising for a long time. Think of all the tiny social, emotional, and psychological muscles, tendons, ligaments, and tissue we have neglected—from getting dressed up to go to work, to taking the metro, to all the strangers, vague acquaintances, colleagues, and friends we no longer smile at, chat with, eat and drink and dance with. These are all the deep micro-muscles and micro-tissue that strengthen our social and emotional core — that make us who we are as humans, that hold us together as individuals and as a species.
Sure, it’s going to be a little uncomfortable, but we are going to have to stretch and exercise those muscles again, for the sake of our humanity.
Adapted transcript of a sound bite commissioned by CBC Radio for a feature on re-opening anxiety.
