SINGAPORE — When retail assistant Melia Raine Morrissey received a text message from her boss that the Dr Martens store she works at would reopen on Friday (June 19), her “heart froze”.

Her worry: That she would no longer know how to interact with customers.

Ms Morrissey had been working full-time at the Dr Martens outlet in 313@somerset for six months until April 7, when Singapore went into circuit breaker mode.

“I felt that perhaps during this time (of isolation), I had lost some communication skills and I have grown quieter. What if I mess up when I speak to customers, or what if I’ve forgotten how to sell these products?” said the 21-year-old.

She was also nervous about seeing her colleagues because it would be like “meeting each other for the first time again”.

Ms Morrissey was not alone in feeling this way.

Ms Devina, a personal trainer who goes by one name, said that she has been having sleepless nights since Monday, when the authorities announced that the country would begin a phased reopening of its economy from Friday.

“This came sooner than expected. I felt like the bubble I had created and grew comfortable in these past few weeks had suddenly burst,” said the 32-year-old, who returned to work on Friday.

“I immediately started thinking about having to be in crowded spaces again and worrying about returning to work. I wasn’t sure what it would be like.”

Ms Devina said it was more than about having to return to an environment where there is a “50-50 chance” of contracting Covid-19 and having to work under “unfamiliar circumstances”.

She was also nervous about the social interactions between herself and her colleagues and clients.

“I’ve been thinking about these interactions so much that when I do get to fall asleep, I dream of these scenarios. It’s just this thought of having to deal with people again that I am not comfortable with or looking forward to,” said the self-proclaimed introvert.

ANXIETIES DUE TO UNCERTAINTY: EXPERTS

Both Ms Morrissey and Ms Devina admitted they often have such anxious thoughts.

Psychologists and psychiatrists TODAY spoke to attributed these heightened levels of anxiety to the uncertainty surrounding the current pandemic, which has erased all sense of normalcy when it comes to even the most basic interactions.

Besides, most people have got used to the safety of their homes which can cause them to hesitate leaving their sanctuary to enter what has now turned into unknown territory.

“One of the key factors here is that people will start to feel like they are losing control over their environment once they are forced to re-enter society,” said Mr Praveen Nair, a psychologist at Raven Counselling and Consultancy.

“The less control there is, the more anxiety there will be. When the uncertainty hits a certain level, where it throws your day to day functioning off, it causes a lot of psychological strain,” he explained, adding that Singaporeans generally have high levels of anxiety.

Dr Lim Boon Leng, a psychiatrist from Gleneagles Medical Centre, said that for those who have feelings of anxiety surrounding social interactions, it is a matter of “getting re-adjusted” and getting used to interacting with people once again.

“There is a phenomenon called desensitisation where if you keep doing something, over time you tend to get desensitised to the situation and the fear, which is what many people who are more introverted, shy or have social anxiety have already overcome,” he said.

“Since they have been away from practising these habits for awhile, it might be a bit harder to start going again.”

‘FEAR OF JUDGMENT’

Undergraduates Alexis Chew, 21, and Sean Ang, 23, believe it would be “awkward” having face-to-face interactions with friends again, after the time that they have spent apart.

“What do we talk about? Will my voice sound funny? Have I gained weight? Can they tell? Am I not the person they remember me to be?” Ms Chew said.

She was also apprehensive about meeting people who have spent the circuit breaker "productively" or "actively".

“It is almost guaranteed that people will ask about how you spent your time. What if I haven't done as much as somebody else? Should I feel ashamed of that?,” the Lasalle College of the Arts student asked.

Mr Ang said he was not sure if he has much to talk about with his friends, having spent the circuit breaker bonding with his family and taking the time to relax and reflect.

The National University of Singapore student, who started an internship last week, added that he was “relieved” to hear that working from home would remain the default for the time being as he “wasn’t looking his best”.

Ms Namrata Juneja, 26, who is currently interning as a production assistant, has similar fears about socialising again. She explained that her social anxiety causes an irrational fear of being judged by others, and it has only “gotten worse” due to the isolation.

Dr Lim said that negative thinking and “fear of judgment” are more prominent in the youth, to whom “peers are more important and their opinions would matter a lot more”.

“In essence, I think most of these negative thoughts are not accurate. They're not real,” he said.

“So the fact of the matter is, as much as you're worried about how your friends will judge you, they'll worry about you judging them and you have to remind yourself that.”

FEAR OF CONTRACTING THE VIRUS

When Ms Sonya Idnani’s friend asked her to shop and grab a bite at Orchard Road over the weekend, she declined and suggested they head to a nearby neighbourhood mall instead.

“The idea of being able to dine-in which would require every patron to take off their mask while eating makes me uncomfortable about eating out because we might be around those who are asymptomatic,” she said.

She is worried about passing the virus to her father who has a heart condition and high blood pressure.

Auditor Bryan Tan, 28, who also has fears of spreading the virus to his aged parents, said that he will not refrain from dining-in at eateries. But instead of gathering in groups of five, he will meet his friends one-on-one maybe once or twice a week.

“I will as much as possible avoid crowded places like public transport and I am least looking forward to eventually returning to the office because that would increase exposure (to the coronavirus),” he said.

“I am definitely planning to continue staying at home mostly and will only go out for essential stuff especially because I still have the feeling that there are undetected cases in the community.”

While community cases remain low leading to the reopening, fears surrounding the virus will remain, said psychologist Praveen.

“The messaging and the symbolic visual stimulus that we get by seeing people wear masks, and signs and posters about social distancing remind us of mortality,” he said.

“And that instills fear.”