UK’s Covid lockdown is lifting, but many are scared to go back to normal life

London CNN — In May, as the United Kingdom began to emerge from one of the world’s longest and most stringent lockdowns, Kitty Grew started doing dry-runs of the commute from her home in north London to her office five miles away. “As soon as things were unlocking they were like, ‘I can’t wait to go clubbing, I can’t wait to go to festivals or go away.’ And I’m just like, ‘Oh my God, I feel anxious just to go on the bus to my work.’” “I can’t imagine getting on a plane and going to a different country, or even going to a club,” said Grew, who has been seeing a therapist to work on coping mechanisms. “I’m struggling to imagine things going back to how they were,” said Amy Clement, a 26-year-old stage manager living in London. “The first half of the pandemic I felt like I could hold on to what I had before, but now it’s been so long I feel like I’m having to start fresh.” Last year, life seemed full of possibility to Clement, who had landed her dream job working backstage on The Lion King, touring the United Kingdom and Ireland. Dr. Elise Paul, who leads the UK COVID-19 Social Study, says she often gets asked: “Will people bounce back?” “And the answer is, we just don’t know.