When the soldiers returned from World War II, having risked their lives for our Republic, they were greeted as heroes, but also given a well-earned G.I. Bill, providing, among other things, educational and housing benefits.

How about doing the same for nurses and orderlies, grocery workers, porters and cleaning crews, E.M.T.’s and other first responders, delivery drivers — all those who have risked their lives to keep us in health and from hunger during the pandemic? They will need a helping hand after all this is over, and they will have earned it.

William N. Fordes

Santa Monica, Calif.

For Some, Shared Anxiety Is Soothing

To the Editor:

Recently, I watched an interview on BBC with a person who found himself feeling calmer and more content since the coronavirus pandemic began. He reported that the anxiety and panic attacks he had suffered from before the pandemic had miraculously subsided.

That has been the case with the patients with anxiety disorders I’ve been treating for years. Most people with moderate to severe anxiety were coping better than the ones with mild or no anxiety symptoms before the pandemic.

Patients with chronic anxiety have an already established neurobiology of abnormal neurotransmitters and neuropathways, as well as psychological defenses, coping styles and social modifications. It’s something they lived with day in and day out. The acute anxiety caused by coronavirus is a novel experience for people who have been fortunate not to experience chronic fear and catastrophic thinking before the pandemic.