A mental and emotional health professional in Piatt County says they are seeing an increase in anxiety regarding life returning to normal as we come out of COVID.

Tony Kirkman is the Piatt County Mental Health Center's Executive Director and indicates this condition, being termed 're-entry anxiety' is becoming very prominent as we start to think about going out again with masks and the attention to hyper-vigilant cleaning begins to go away.

According to Kirkman, the human condition craves and desires control over our circumstances and he says COVID has put a wrench into that control we crave. He says it will take two to three months of repeating old behaviors before we are accustomed to the way of life pre-COVID. 

Kirkman encourages as we unmask and get back to the things we used to do, go places we know and are comfortable being at and then continue to branch out from those experiences. 

The portion of the population that is experiencing 're-entry anxiety' and the portion of the population unafraid of returning to normal will have to co-exist for several weeks and months. Kirkman hopes we all treat each other with respect and recognize we're equal members of society.