Globally, COVID-19 vaccination rates are rising. Ghana recently obtained 600,000 Covishield (AstraZeneca) doses which are being rolled out. As we receive more jabs in arms, the world takes tiny steps towards “getting back to normal”. Soon enough, we’ll have to figure out how to be around each other again. Did anyone say holiday escape with a new digital health (vaccine) passport? We hear you! For some, they just can’t wait to get back to normal, and have started making social plans, asking to be let back into the office, or have already started organising family get togethers. For others, this may cause some anxiety. Crammed conference rooms at work?! Yikes!
We’ve grouped some of the anxiety comments we’ve been hearing/seeing into 3 buckets:
Pressure to meet up and socialise
Lack of confidence from having put on/lost weight over the past year
Pressure to attend job functions & programmes
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It took us a while to adjust to the new way of life when the pandemic hit, and it is understandable that it might take a bit of time to adjust to the return to “normal”. Here are some tips we’d like to suggest:
Take it a step at a time. Don’t look too far into the future, but just focus on what you can do now and in the immediate future. Try to resist speculating about what is to come, or dwelling on the past
Go at your pace. It is ok to do things in your own time and resist pressure from friends to do things you don’t really want to do. At the same time however, you do need to start to push yourself to take steps towards reconnecting with others. Just do so in a way that feels right for you
Fall on your close circles. Talk to trusted family and friends about your anxiety. They might be ready to jump right in and might not have paused to think that you might feel different. Perhaps you can start with arranging one-on-one catchups and then slowly increase group numbers
Build up your tolerance. If this is possible, find ways to increase your exposure to crowded places gradually. Perhaps start by spending time in a quiet café, then take it from there
Avoid comparing yourself to others. We all adjust and adapt differently to situations and no one is to say which way is the right way
There is loads of advice online and on social media on coping with COVID-19, and more recently, on getting “back to normal”. This all goes to show that you are not alone in your anxiety. When it gets to advise on managing your kids anxiety, we came across some on the BBC which although not completely comparable to Ghana’s situation, touches on some valid points.
You can read more on it here: BBC
