Lets be honest: Some of us have still not yet fully recovered from the early days of the pandemic, when bread flew off the shelves , chicken was scarce and hardly a soul could spare a square of precious toilet paper.

In March, there was initial stockpiling of key grocery items due to panic buying, and consumers continued to buy more groceries to eat at home due to safety concerns as well as closures of restaurants and capacity limitations in dining rooms, said Terrie Wendricks , vice president of consumer and shopper insights at C+R Research.

Prices shot up in response, making grocery shopping already a bit of a stressful ordeal even more difficult.

Grocery shopping today is a whole new experience that can create some pretty high anxiety for some of us, said Kim Anderson , clinical director of the Eating Recovery Center of Maryland.

For those struggling with or in recovery from an eating disorder, they might experience heightened anxiety that the grocery store may trigger certain thoughts or behaviors, she added. If people have lost income due to the pandemic, the grocery store may bring up anxiety around being able to provide for themselves and their families.

But, Anderson said, any shopper can experience pressure or tension about being around several people in the store, making sure they have appropriate protective gear like hand sanitizer, following new store policies like one-way foot traffic, and realizing what they need isnt in stock.