"Anxiety is hard-wired to be sensitive, it's what keeps us alive" says psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald. "It comes about as a feeling when we perceive a situation as threat to our safety or wellbeing."
With Covid-19 having been that threat, it's easy to see how many of us found our anxiety rising as we heeded advice to contain and avoid the invisible enemy. So now, as the levels lower, how easy is it to recalibrate our anxiety levels after having been on high alert for so long?
"The way to do that is through your behaviour," MacDonald says.
"Go easy on yourself and others. This can take time and may even feel unpleasant. Start by pushing your comfort boundaries little by little."
After having social distancing be part of self-preservation, the concept of shaking hands, standing maskless in a lift or my least favourite - the dreaded hug - can cause anxiety for some by just reading these words.
"It's okay, it doesn't mean you have anxiety, it means you're going through a change process. It's up to all of us to be aware that each of us might be in different places," assures MacDonald.
"Where we know anxiety crosses over from being a feeling that we all have on a day-to-day basis to something that's a problem is when it gets in the way of doing things that otherwise we would have done, in other words avoidance."
In practical terms we all need to apply an easy does it approach. If you don't feel up to being back in the office full-time, then just try a couple of hours for a start and take it from there.
On the other side of it all it's important to be accommodating as we all get back into the swing of things at our own pace. Don't expect too much too soon, the coffee cup will still be there on your desk because, at the end of the day, you survived a pandemic. Well done.