Long-term anxiety can also exhaust the body, says Gold.

"We evolved as creatures, people that run from predators in the animal kingdom, right? To have anxiety as a way to predict and run from threat," she says.

When we're anxious, our hearts race and our muscles tense up as we prepare to fight a predator or run from it. But "you can only run a 100-yard dash for a short amount of time. Not a year, and not a year where they keep moving the finish line," says Gold. "We can't do that. Eventually our muscles and our body say, 'No, I'm tired.' "

The rise in symptoms of anxiety and depression, which include exhaustion, is a predictable response to the trauma of the pandemic, says Dr. Sandro Galea, dean of the School of Public Health at Boston University.

"The definition of a trauma is an event that threatens people's sense of safety and stability," which this pandemic is, he adds.

Nearly all of us are grieving the loss of life as we knew it, says Dr. Jennifer Payne, director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins. "We're just in a completely different world right now," she says. "A lot of things are not going to go back to the way they were. And so that causes grief and is a normal reaction to a big change."

However, the trauma is much bigger for individuals directly affected by the pandemic, says Galea. That includes those who've lost loved ones, lost a job or housing, struggled with child care, or have had COVID-19 themselves — some of whom report continuing to experience exhaustion that's thought to be associated with the viral infection.

Some people have been hit so hard — and are so worn down — that "they are having trouble coming back from this," says Cyrus, the Johns Hopkins psychiatrist, whose patients are mostly people of color and/or queer. Black and Latino communities in particular have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and its fallout.

And people in these communities will likely struggle with more mental and physical health issues in the long run, notes Galea, and need access to mental health care and greater support to recover.

Steps to take now

For many people, the relaxing social activities that can help buffer against stress and anxiety — like seeing friends or going out to dinner — are not yet reality, due to uneven vaccination rates. So what can we do now to help recharge?

Payne, of Johns Hopkins' Women's Mood Disorders Center, encourages people to keep in mind all of the usual things that help during stressful times: exercise, a healthy diet, going outdoors and limiting news consumption. And engage in relaxing activities often, like a hobby you love, listening to or watching something funny, or reading books you enjoy.

If these diversions aren't working for you now, she recommends trying a change of scenery if you can.

For Payne, who lives in Baltimore, that meant staying at her parents' home in West Virginia for three nights.

"It was not a very exciting trip, but we got away and it was a completely different environment. And I didn't have any projects around the house that I could do other than reading or listening to a podcast, sleeping, eating," Payne says. "And that was really, really renewing for me."

However, Cyrus, who is also at Johns Hopkins, says some of her patients say their normal coping strategies aren't working.

That's because we are running on an emptier gas tank than usual, she says. "Your coping strategies that might be able to refill you a certain percent, [but now] you're starting lower. So it's not quite getting you where you need to be."

If that's the case for you, try changing up your routine, Payne says. "If you're walking every day and that's no longer helping, you try biking."

Self-care is important, notes Gold of Washington University. "Take the vacation time you need," she recommends. "Make sure that you're taking care of yourself in the short and long term."

And, she adds, "there's no wrong time to go talk to someone." If you can't get an appointment with a therapist, talk to a friend or co-worker, she suggests.

"I think that because so many people are struggling with this and because it is so normal, everybody has something to say," says Gold. "If we could just get to the point where we could be talking about the stuff more openly, we'd feel a lot less alone."

Feeling more connected can help ease some of our stress and related exhaustion.

Also, Payne encourages trying to find things to be grateful for. Research shows that gratitude journaling lifts your mood and is good for your mental health.

"We can always find things to be grateful for," says Payne. "It's springtime and the days are starting to be beautiful and the trees are blossoming, and really thinking about that and admiring the trees, for example, can make you feel really grateful."

Acceptance and self-compassion will also help, notes Gold. "We have to be able to give ourselves a little bit of grace," she says. In other words, accept that you might not work as efficiently or get as much done right now.

For most of us, the brain fog will likely fade away when we are able to resume some normalcy in our lives, say Gold and others.

"Most people are resilient to traumatic events, and we should always keep that in mind," says Galea of Boston University. "Most people bounce back fairly quickly once the trauma resolves."

Copyright NPR 2021.