AT THE end of an emotionally charged year, Nicole Mackie, 37, found mental respite in the 2020 holiday season. She and her boyfriend put up a tree at their home in Long Beach, California, listened to Christmas music “all the time,” and discovered joy in baking and eating treats. But then the holidays ended, the new year began, and Mackie’s mood swings returned.
“What’s really been bothering me is that we’re coming up on a year of being in lockdown,” says Mackie. The impending milestone reminds her of all that she’s missed: time with family, meeting friends’ new babies, the funeral of a loved one. Unfortunately, with COVID-19 cases in the U.S. still alarmingly high, quarantine is likely to stick around a while more, thanks to a slower-than-anticipated national vaccine rollout and the detection of new, more contagious strains of COVID-19.
The result? “People are getting burnt out,” says Rachel
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