My Anxieties with COVID-19

I’m sure most of us are very anxious with COVID-19 having stuck around for this long. When first hearing about it, I didn’t think it would actually make it to the summertime…but here we are.

I’ve had anxiety stick around for a few reasons and I wanted to talk about them.

Warmer weather

With the warmer weather we’ve had, I’ve been growing more and more anxious about COVID-19.

When it first started in the winter, I wasn’t as worried about people gathering and spending time outside. It was cold and no one really hung out with friends. For the most part, everyone stayed inside and socially distanced.

Now that the weather is warmer and here to stay, I get anxious on days where it’s sunny and warm. Moreso weekends, but with not all jobs back to work yet, even weekdays worry me.

The first warm weekend we got in Toronto was hell-ish. If you didn’t see the pictures, one of the city’s biggest parks was packed FULL of people. No social distancing was happening whatsoever, it was like there wasn’t a pandemic going on at all.

This freaked me out for obvious reasons. There would be an inevitable spike in cases happening about 2 weeks later. Already showing that they weren’t following the government’s health regulations, who knows where these people would be going and what they would be doing. Needless to say, I’m not going downtown anytime soon, and I’m not happy with the situation here.

Friends and family

I’m sure this is something we can all relate to…family and/or friends not complying with social distancing, or wearing a mask.

The government recommends that we wear masks EVERYWHERE for the foreseeable future. I know for sure that I will be. I’m no longer worried about what anyone thinks, I’m looking out for me.

I’ve seen people on social media still seeing family and friends while the weather is nicer. Not only that but not staying at least 6 feet apart. My best friend refuses to wear a mask, stating that he doesn’t believe it will actually help.

This is hard for me to deal with. Obviously, this is my best friend, but he knows about my health condition and still will go to the store without a mask on. It’s bothersome to me. No matter what I say he won’t do it.

My family has been really good at wearing masks and gloves when going out. My immediate family, at least. My uncle, who lives with my grandparents, has recently stopped wearing a mask when going out. It seems no matter what I say to my friends or family, some of them won’t listen and just want to do the wrong thing.

It hurts, but realistically, there’s nothing I can do. It makes me anxious when I think about people not socially distancing properly, or not wearing masks when going out.

What are some of your anxieties surrounding COVID-19? What do you do to try and control them? I’d love to hear some tips!