The following podcast is a deer media production.

Hi, I'm Wendy.

And I'm Jess, and you're listening to the Food Heaven Podcast.

Your online resource for inclusive and accessible wellness.

Welcome back, y'all.

Today, we decided that we wanted to cover something that I think a lot of people have been

struggling with, including ourselves, which is social anxiety with COVID.

It's just been weird, like interacting with people, especially as we're transitioning into,

I don't even know if I would call it normalcy, but just like, you know, seeing people again,

doing public gatherings. I don't know, it can get a little weird. How do you feel about it, Jess?

At first, I was actually very worried about re-entering society.

As I think many people are, I'm like, oh my god, am I going to be super awkward?

But one interesting thing I found was that I had saved up so much energy as an introvert,

like being at home. So when I am around friends, I do feel a little more energetic than actually

I normally would, but still awkward. And also, like years have passed, so like people look different.

And it's just like, I think everyone's kind of in their heads about like how they look or how things

may have changed, which we need to normalize all the changes during the pandemic, but still,

it doesn't mean that you're not going to be in your head about it. So yeah, it's been, it's been.

And so we are thrilled to have this week's expert guest, Dr. Angela Neal Barnett. Dr. Angela,

as she goes by, is a nationally award-winning psychologist, professor, and leading expert on

anxiety disorders in black Americans. Yeah, and we're going to be talking to Dr. Angela about

social anxiety, what it is, some key signs that someone might have social anxiety, also tools

...