No one has bothered to respond whether it was a-okay for the PP to ask if another PP was on the spectrum because they weren't having any problems communicating with masks or noticing some huge difference. Guess that was fine with you all, of course.

re my family's mask wearing, they are pretty outspoken and have definite opinions on mask wearing for public safety, so yeah, I know where they stand.

I don't think most people eschewing masks are experiencing such anxiety over it that they need to not wear them out of mental health concerns. Many people are just choosing not to wear them because they're tired of them and it's easier for them not to. This is true despite more and more information coming out that even mild cases of covid can cause long lasting harm to the immunity system (as the study that originated this thread shows). People are dropping basic safety measures out of convenience or politics or whatever. If those are your choices, you're certainly allowed to make them, and you can mock me all you want for taking basic, rational precautions for my family and doing what we can not to catch and spread a debilitating, life-threatening disease. Our family has done what we can. Good luck with yours.

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.

Just curious- how many hours per day do you and your family members wear masks? As an essential worker (not health care) who has to wear masks 40+ hours per week for a long time, I can identify with what PP is saying and it was frankly freeing not to have to do that anymore. But I can see if you are only wearing masks for the occasional grocery trip or concert that you would have no idea why it would be difficult.

My middle schooler wears theirs in school all day and my husband wears an N95 at work all day also. I wear mine doing car drop offs for multiple kids and for 4-5 hours a day at work 4 days/week, so it's true I don't have it as bad as you. And I would be happy not to need to wear a mask anymore. It would be easier not to, I agree. We just aren't experiencing any suffering or emotional anxiety from it (I guess except occasional comments from anti-maskers, but honestly that doesn't really bother me), so the risks of not wearing it for us outweigh the benefits of dropping it.

Then keep on keepin' on, I'm sorry you have to deal with anti-masker comments on a regular basis but most of us are happy for everyone to do what works best for them. Of course, it would be nice to have that grace from those who continue to mask as well rather than some weird guilt trip about our choices. It's strange that I can understand why you want to wear a mask but you are dismissive of why others wouldn't. But have a lovely day!

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.

Just curious- how many hours per day do you and your family members wear masks? As an essential worker (not health care) who has to wear masks 40+ hours per week for a long time, I can identify with what PP is saying and it was frankly freeing not to have to do that anymore. But I can see if you are only wearing masks for the occasional grocery trip or concert that you would have no idea why it would be difficult.

My middle schooler wears theirs in school all day and my husband wears an N95 at work all day also. I wear mine doing car drop offs for multiple kids and for 4-5 hours a day at work 4 days/week, so it's true I don't have it as bad as you. And I would be happy not to need to wear a mask anymore. It would be easier not to, I agree. We just aren't experiencing any suffering or emotional anxiety from it (I guess except occasional comments from anti-maskers, but honestly that doesn't really bother me), so the risks of not wearing it for us outweigh the benefits of dropping it.

Congratulations on not describing this as "turning it into a mental health issue" this time and not being a complete POS

Fit-tested? Or loosey-goosey?

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.

Just curious- how many hours per day do you and your family members wear masks? As an essential worker (not health care) who has to wear masks 40+ hours per week for a long time, I can identify with what PP is saying and it was frankly freeing not to have to do that anymore. But I can see if you are only wearing masks for the occasional grocery trip or concert that you would have no idea why it would be difficult.

My middle schooler wears theirs in school all day and my husband wears an N95 at work all day also. I wear mine doing car drop offs for multiple kids and for 4-5 hours a day at work 4 days/week, so it's true I don't have it as bad as you. And I would be happy not to need to wear a mask anymore. It would be easier not to, I agree. We just aren't experiencing any suffering or emotional anxiety from it (I guess except occasional comments from anti-maskers, but honestly that doesn't really bother me), so the risks of not wearing it for us outweigh the benefits of dropping it.

You think your middle schooler and husband wear tight masks correctly all day. That doesn’t mean they actually do.

Anonymous wrote:It's always the member of the family that wears masks the least who insists they are NBD and don't have any real negative impacts.

+1 The biggest mask shamer I know in real life never has to leave her house to be anywhere, much less a place where she’s have to wear one for 8 hours straight. So tiresome.

"My child wears a mask all day and it doesn't bother me at all!"

It's always the member of the family that wears masks the least who insists they are NBD and don't have any real negative impacts.

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.

Just curious- how many hours per day do you and your family members wear masks? As an essential worker (not health care) who has to wear masks 40+ hours per week for a long time, I can identify with what PP is saying and it was frankly freeing not to have to do that anymore. But I can see if you are only wearing masks for the occasional grocery trip or concert that you would have no idea why it would be difficult.

My middle schooler wears theirs in school all day and my husband wears an N95 at work all day also. I wear mine doing car drop offs for multiple kids and for 4-5 hours a day at work 4 days/week, so it's true I don't have it as bad as you. And I would be happy not to need to wear a mask anymore. It would be easier not to, I agree. We just aren't experiencing any suffering or emotional anxiety from it (I guess except occasional comments from anti-maskers, but honestly that doesn't really bother me), so the risks of not wearing it for us outweigh the benefits of dropping it.

Congratulations on not describing this as "turning it into a mental health issue" this time and not being a complete POS

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.

Just curious- how many hours per day do you and your family members wear masks? As an essential worker (not health care) who has to wear masks 40+ hours per week for a long time, I can identify with what PP is saying and it was frankly freeing not to have to do that anymore. But I can see if you are only wearing masks for the occasional grocery trip or concert that you would have no idea why it would be difficult.

My middle schooler wears theirs in school all day and my husband wears an N95 at work all day also. I wear mine doing car drop offs for multiple kids and for 4-5 hours a day at work 4 days/week, so it's true I don't have it as bad as you. And I would be happy not to need to wear a mask anymore. It would be easier not to, I agree. We just aren't experiencing any suffering or emotional anxiety from it (I guess except occasional comments from anti-maskers, but honestly that doesn't really bother me), so the risks of not wearing it for us outweigh the benefits of dropping it.

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Anonymous wrote:Are you saying I am ridiculing people with mental health issues because of the earlier post asking if the person had mental health issues?

Did you see that post was just a response to the person asking whether someone was on the spectrum because they didn't mind having social interactions involving masks?

Not sure where you're getting ridicule about mental health issues from my comment, but I'm not surprised that someone in this thread is only seeing one side of an issue.

It is pretty obvious what you are doing. I noticed you didn't include the quote of yourself in your post because it would highlight to everyone reading what you really are.

Uh huh you're pathetic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying I am ridiculing people with mental health issues because of the earlier post asking if the person had mental health issues?

Did you see that post was just a response to the person asking whether someone was on the spectrum because they didn't mind having social interactions involving masks?

Not sure where you're getting ridicule about mental health issues from my comment, but I'm not surprised that someone in this thread is only seeing one side of an issue.

It is pretty obvious what you are doing. I noticed you didn't include the quote of yourself in your post because it would highlight to everyone reading what you really are.

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying I am ridiculing people with mental health issues because of the earlier post asking if the person had mental health issues?

Did you see that post was just a response to the person asking whether someone was on the spectrum because they didn't mind having social interactions involving masks?

Not sure where you're getting ridicule about mental health issues from my comment, but I'm not surprised that someone in this thread is only seeing one side of an issue.

It is pretty obvious what you are doing. I noticed you didn't include the quote of yourself in your post because it would highlight to everyone reading what you really are.

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.

Just curious- how many hours per day do you and your family members wear masks? As an essential worker (not health care) who has to wear masks 40+ hours per week for a long time, I can identify with what PP is saying and it was frankly freeing not to have to do that anymore. But I can see if you are only wearing masks for the occasional grocery trip or concert that you would have no idea why it would be difficult.

Are you saying I am ridiculing people with mental health issues because of the earlier post asking if the person had mental health issues?

Did you see that post was just a response to the person asking whether someone was on the spectrum because they didn't mind having social interactions involving masks?

Not sure where you're getting ridicule about mental health issues from my comment, but I'm not surprised that someone in this thread is only seeing one side of an issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.

DP.

I am fully vaxxed and boosted. I wear a mask during surges. I test and isolate when necessary.

The minimizing and ridiculing of mental health issues by people like you is absolutely shameful. It is a big tell that you do not "care about others" remotely as much as you claim to everyone that you do. You are not convincing anyone of anything except that you are a complete and utter a-hole.