The stress of the pandemic and the sudden reentry into society are likely not the sole drivers of every outburst that’s made news recently, said Steven Taylor, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Psychology of Pandemics,” which takes a historic look at how people behave during and respond to pandemics.

For those of us who see those moments of chaos in the news or in person, it’s natural to assume they’re happening more often now that the world is reopening, even when that may not be true, Taylor said.

Given the sheer volume of social disruption we’ve experienced in the last year and a half, it’s understandable that we’d look for correlation between the pandemic and those uncomfortable outbursts, he said, which might cause some people to hesitate about returning to life as it was before.

“Attributing seemingly inexplicable outbursts to pandemic stress makes our world seem more understandable, predictable and therefore safer because we can anticipate and avoid threatening situations,” he said.

Stress causes some of us to react with violence, others to react with fear

“Now that the world is reopened, we may see less patience, more irritability, less stress tolerance because people have been trying to hold it together for so long,” said Clark, who is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of obstetrics and gynecology. “Even though they are finally able to ‘relax,’ they remain on edge because the effects of the mental stress over the past year do not go away overnight.”

There are also those of us whose preferences have changed during the pandemic. For people who’d rather stay home, reading about these incidents might further reinforce that they’d rather “be around people less than they were,” Clark said.

Whether these moments of chaos are a direct result of the pandemic or not, seeing so many of them can make our world feel increasingly dangerous — particularly for people who are already anxious about Covid-19 or the thought of reentering society, Taylor said.

“Fear of being the target of an angry meltdown becomes added to the list of things already feared and avoided,” he said.

We’ve shouldered a lot of fear and anxiety since the start of 2020. This new fear — of other people’s erratic behavior — could motivate some people to avoid contact with strangers or consider airline travel anytime soon, Taylor said.

We’ll ultimately return to society at our own pace

It may take weeks or months for those fears to abate, said Taylor, but they will, eventually. Humans are built to adapt — something we’ve had to do time and again since the pandemic began.

“People will emerge from the pandemic at different rates,” Taylor said. “Some will exuberantly resume their pre-pandemic lives whereas other people will be more circumspect, taking more time to become comfortable in resuming air travel or going to public spaces.”

Taylor, Clark and Van Bavel all agree that though it may take some of us longer to feel comfortable in public again, most of us will get there. The world will still be waiting — no matter our pace.