If you’ve been getting out of the house to visit the grocery store over the past couple of months, you may have noticed the flour isle is relatively bare. That’s because people are literally baking their way through anxiety during the pandemic, mostly baking bread.

Apparently, baking to curb anxiety is not a new phenomenon. According to the American Psychiatric Association, anxiety has been on the rise since 2016 and baking has risen along with it. This confection, er connection, between baking and mental health has only been amplified as the pandemic has confined millions to their homes…leading them to bake even more.

Clemence Gossett, the founder and co-owner of The Gourmandise School in Santa Monica, California, surmises that people have been attracted to bread baking not just because of its practicality as a grocery staple, but because of its meditative qualities during challenging times.

Rolling, kneading and mixing all have a calming quality, forcing you to be in the moment and not stuck mentally in the future or past. That may help bakers manage uncertainty and emotions. “I think that there is this desire for people to express themselves and it’s really hard to do that when you can’t communicate and have this back and forth with others,” says Gossett. “We have lost that in a way. There’s this wonderful tangibility with baking and lets you work out emotions and express yourself.”

So, get your sourdough on! If you can find any flour, that is….