For some people, the tunnel that is the New South Wales lockdown has at times been dark, but feels less ominous the closer we walk towards our version of 'freedom day'.
My own experience has been hunkering down while living in a new region, isolated from family and friends, and navigating a long-distance relationship.
It's been mentally challenging, but seems trivial when I compare it to the far more troubling stories that have come across my desk as a journalist.
After sacrifices and heartache, so many people are looking forward to the easing of some restrictions on movement and social gatherings once 70 per cent of the state's population is double vaccinated.
But some are also experiencing significant anxiety about the 'return to normal'.
'I haven't been able to sleep'
A Western Sydney family member is terrified about catching COVID-19 as the state reopens, having only left the house to get vaccinated and go to the shops once during the past 14 weeks.
It has been just as debilitating for my housemate on the Central Coast who is anxious about the scaling back of government support payments, returning to socialising and the prospect of transmitting COVID-19 to someone else.
"I haven't been able to sleep because I just worry — it's a constant state of anxiety," she says.
One inner-city Sydney friend mentioned she's worried their social network will forget to invite her to gatherings.
South-west Sydney psychologist Gemma Ahsan says while most of her clients are feeling positive about the roadmap out of lockdown, some aren't.
"People feel scared about what life is going to look like post-lockdown," Ms Ahsan says.
"For example, they might be people who held jobs that were either not permanent or … lost their jobs during lockdown.
"Not everybody is disliking the lockdowns. People are telling us that actually they're … able to find more time to connect with themselves."
Heather Irvine-Rundle, a clinical psychologist on the Central Coast, says clients are assessing the threat of "living with COVID-19".
"There is definitely a group of people who are very anxious about starting to do those things that we have been told for a long time weren't safe," she says.
"People are working pretty hard to try and figure out how to keep up with the government advice and how to make sense of it in their own personal world but also for their families, for their children, for elderly parents, for people with immunocompromised systems."
'Will life be as good as before?'
Richard Bryant, professor of psychology at the University of NSW, is running a national treatment trial for people struggling with stress caused by the pandemic.
"People will be a little bit surprised to hear about people being anxious about lockdowns ending because most people are looking forward to it enormously," Professor Bryant says.
"I think people can look forward to it and feel anxious about it at the same time.
"For many of us, we have been living with lockdown for such a long time, as we come out of it, it's like, 'How do I bounce back to the same extent as I did before? Will life be as good?' What might go wrong? What might hurt me? What might I be deprived of around the corner?'"
Professor Bryant says evidence overseas shows that some people are still struggling with their mental health after restrictions lifted.
"In 12 months' time, things just aren't going to be rosy again," he says.
However, associate professor Jill Newby at the Black Dog Institute says some preliminary studies show declines in anxiety and depression over time.
"We've done surveys in adults and young people … and that consistently shows that people in lockdown feel more stressed, more depressed and more anxious than they do outside of lockdown," she says.
"What we do know from some more recent research from international researchers is that as people exit out of lockdown, so more of the longer-term impacts, the majority of people's distress goes down.
"They are fairly resilient over time."
Tips for coming out of lockdown and managing anxiety
What the experts recommend:
- Adjust your expectations and try to accept that life won't be exactly how it was before lockdown.
- Take it step by step. You don't have to rush out on day one. Slowly build your confidence.
- Focus and act on what you can control, for example, avoid crowded areas, wear masks, exercise, get sufficient sleep.
- Make plans you are comfortable with, including with people you haven't physically seen for some time, to give you a sense of optimism.
- Seek help early by speaking to a GP or psychologist and accessing mental health resources from well-known agencies such as Lifeline and Beyond Blue.
- Have conversations with supportive family, friends and colleagues.
The 'light at the end of the tunnel' is burning brighter — we just might adjust to it at different paces.
The University of NSW trial can be found at www.traumaticstressclinic.com