–   DECEMBER 2021   –

Why being out of lockdown might have been challenging for you

Over the last year, you’ve made a great deal of progress and might not even realise. You’ve got yourself through the uncertainty and stress of the lockdown restrictions and adapted to a new way of life mainly spent indoors. It’s taken courage and resilience.

In adjusting to spending more time outside since lockdown lifted, you might have experienced unexpected emotions arising, such as anxiety. This might have felt unsettling, especially if you’d been looking forward to lockdown ending. You’re not alone in feeling this way and there’s some understandable reasons why this can happen.

These are some of the most common feelings our physiotherapy clients have been experiencing recently:

Worrying they might fall over, away from the safety of their own home as they are not used to being outside and have to get used to walking on different surfaces again.

Feeling overwhelmed on car journeys to go to appointments and activities, especially if movement is painful getting in and out of vehicles.

Feeling self-conscious being around other people through fear of others looking at them if their mobility has deteriorated or worrying people might knock into them.

Feeling embarrassed that the things they used to do with ease before lockdown are now more challenging and require more effort and energy.

Feeling under pressure to be as strong and mobile as they used to be before the pandemic started, when they had more access to regular outdoor activities and services that aided exercise, physical strength and mobility.

Can you relate to any of these? If so, you could be internalising them as a personal failing, rather than realising that you just need more time to adjust and practice. Taking small steps, physically and mentally, in the right direction will make a difference to steadily easing these feelings. Sometimes knowing it is perfectly normal to feel this way makes the biggest difference of all.