The only diagnosis I have is Auditory Processing Disorder. DS was diagnosed with several neurodiverse conditions shortly before the lockdowns. It is highly likely that I'm neurodiverse and many adult women passed under the radar in childhood as conditions such as autism and ADHD were largely thought to be male conditions. People aren't born with handy labels and manuals and many struggle on for years without knowing they're "disabled" (same can apply to many physical conditions too, particularly auto-immune and fatigue conditions)
Muffle the speech, take away lip reading, add in a dose of birth trauma and it's distressing just being around masks.
Then add in a long history of hyperventilating on warm humid air, triggered perfectly by recycling my own breath which means that I struggle to make it down the first aisle in the supermarket before the overwhelm kicks in and I'm gasping away. Then there's the fear of judgement and confrontation as well because strangers just see a youngish healthy woman having the audacity to have a face in public and may decide that she's easy pickings for challenging.
I tried visors and ended up shredding my face in overwhelm as it got worse by the week. It took a lot of force of will to not retreat into aggrophobia last winter.
Restrictions have impacted my life and purpose heavily and many things that are important to me have often been some of the last bastions of normal to be returned, and the first to be revoked. To add in being scared to go into a shop or abstain is another heavy toll.
So in the spring, I got a lanyard so that I could try and live a bit more. I didn't want to tarnish the original purpose of the scheme as I can see the potential benefits for people like DS.
Am I anti-mask? Yes, how could I be pro-mask when the benefits for them in community use with unregulated products, and ridiculous settings like school playgrounds are pretty poor, and offset against the range of difficulties they trigger for often vulnerable people and the way they visibly push people into difficult positions then get dismissed with "it's not that hard" and told to basically imprison themselves at home. Regulated products in a more controlled environment such as healthcare are a different situation, but the value of facial contact is still important.
I'm just pathetically grateful at the nature of UK exemptions. If I'd gone to the GP seeking diagnoses in July 2020, I'd still be festering on a waiting list. Other countries effectively placing struggling people under house arrest is nothing to celebrate.
Wear a mask, don't wear a mask, just let people be and finally get on with life. Don't use it as a sanctimonious symbol of how "caring" you are. To many people they are anything other than a courtesy.