Many of us know what it feels like to have anxiety even if we don’t know what to call it. It may feel like tightness in your chest or an overwhelming fear of something that has yet to happen.

And it’s no surprise that the pandemic has made this overwhelming fear worse. According to the CDC, the number of adults experiencing symptoms of anxiety or a depressive disorder grew more than 5 percent between 2020 and 2021.

We’re now entering a new phase of the pandemic as some states start to loosen their mask mandates. The CDC could update its mask guidance this week. For some people, this change is a welcome one. For others, not so much.

In this month’s installment of the Scientific Method, we talk about anxiety and the science behind it.