Dealing with Anxiety as Lockdown Eases

By Chloe

In the last few weeks, the UK lockdown measures have eased in ways that a lot of us did not think were ever going to happen. Pubs have opened back up, we can eat inside restaurants, and the queues to get inside a clothes shop are the longest that I have seen for a long time. Living in a small town means that it is nice to see local, small businesses opening up again and serving members of the public. However, the anxiety that some of us are feeling makes the idea of going out to casually eat a meal again difficult to deal with. As someone who has definitely felt this stress and anxiety, I thought I’d collate a short list of things that have helped me in return to normality and might help some of you.

A couple of ways to help ease the anxiety you might be feeling:

• Remember you don’t have to say yes - It can feel like at the minute everyone on social media is going out without a care in the world and making it a point to remind others that saying no to going out is simply not allowed. This is not the case. If you don’t feel comfortable with the location you’re being asked to go to - whether this be a bar, a restaurant, or even the supermarket - then you are fully entitled to say no. Also, it’s okay to feel comfortable in certain locations but not others. You are also fully entitled to change your mind; the day before you might feel ready to go out but the day of you might realise that it could be too much at once. Just remember no one should make you feel bad for not being as ready as them.

  
  

• Start off in a small group - Although the rule of six or two households joining together to go out at one time is now legal, after spending the year indoors with seeing maybe only a handful of individuals, this idea can seem daunting. My first outing was with my mum and older sister to a small restaurant that had limited tables. This put my mind at ease massively because it was with people I was extremely close with and knew exactly where they had been. Starting off small with the people you love and trust the most, especially people you haven’t seen because of coronavirus, could allow you to focus more on catching up on big news and events that have happened to your loved ones rather than everyone else around you.

  
  

• Go somewhere familiar - Personally, a big stresser of mine is when I’m in an uncertain or new location. Therefore living in a relatively small town, both when I’m at university and when I’m at home, limits the choices of where to eat. In relation to the pandemic this has helped a lot because I’ve managed to collate a small list of my favourite locations and therefore have been able to return to restaurants and bars which I know as much information about as possible. Therefore, going back to your favourite restaurant or bar when you feel most comfortable to do so could be a good idea because you don’t need to worry about the menu or where it is situated or the layout of the location. Your mind is not focused on one hundred different things.

​For more information about how to combat feelings of stress and anxiety about the easing of lockdown I thought I would provide some links to further reading that some of you might find helpful. These are websites that I’ve personally visited time and time again whilst looking for advice, therefore having no association or sponsorship with Teenagers with Experience. I think the Mind charity does a really good job of explaining a plethora of feelings that individuals may be experiencing, not only stress and anxiety. In addition to Mind, is Rethink Mental Illness. Their website takes you through a series of scenario-based questions about returning to work, the ever-changing rules and the fear of catching or transmitting to vulnerable friends or family members.

It’s easy to think that you are the only person struggling with lockdown easing, especially when scrolling through social media and every other photo is of a person in a bar or with their friends they haven’t seen for months. Remember that social media is not an accurate representation of people’s lives, it’s a highlight reel of their personal best bits. The person who went out the night before may have extreme anxiety about going out in three days time.

Here’s hoping that some of this advice helped, don’t forget to share your opinions or advice. Helping each other is how we’ve made it this far over the pandemic.