Does anyone feel really uncomfortable seeing people in masks?

[Lissy23]

I do.
It feels to be like their ‘faceless’ beings.
I know this sounds really far fetched, but it’s how I feel.

I also find it very unpleasant being unable to see somebody’s facial expression and to know whether they are smiling at me.
I think I’m on the spectrum, possibly aspergers, I’ve been told by various therapists that it’s a possibility.

How will anyone meet a romantic partner if they can’t see their face? Only their eyes? I know eyes are supposed to be the ‘window the soul’ but I can’t bear not seeing somebody’s entire face.

I went to the pharmacy the other day and the pharmacist was wearing a mask, he was talking to me and I didn’t understand him at all. I didn’t think I relied on lip reading, but I obviously do. He said it twice and I didn’t get it, so I just pretended I had

I know this is all for the greater good. But I feel so depressed and anxious by it all, I already suffer with mental health issues.

I am finding it difficult reading books and watching tv programme or films because they make me tearful and remind me of life before all of this ‘new normal’. I’m wondering if I should speak to a doctor. But I have no idea how to word it.
I’ve already had people calling me selfish and childish (friends and family) for being anxious about wearing a face covering.
It isn’t just other people wearing them, I can’t breathe when I have anything covering my nose and mouth and it often induces a panic attack.

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-britons-should-be-wearing-face-masks-in-shops-says-boris-johnson-12027625

Announcement due this week

Yes, i rely on lip reading more than I thought I did, due to reduced hearing, and find it really difficult not being able to see people’s faces. I can’t bare wearing masks so will only wear one now when I go to the doctors/pharmacy. Absolutely refuse to wear them elsewhere.

Compulsory in shops from the 24 July

I am worried about masks because my DM really struggles with them, both physically and finding it all very depressing. I do sympathise OP.

Personally though I am ok with them, and I find seeing other people wearing them can be quite encouraging...it could be seen as people being responsible, trying to protect others etc.

It's not before time.

*Face masks around the world
After much to-ing and fro-ing, face coverings are finally becoming mandatory in shops in England. But in some countries it has been a requirement for months:

16 March Vietnam makes face masks compulsory in all public spaces including shops.
18 March Czech Republic becomes the first country in Europe to make masks mandatory in supermarkets, pharmacies and on public transport.
22 March Venezuela, all public spaces.
25 March Slovakia, all public spaces.
4 April Colombia, supermarkets and other places where social distancing of 1 metre is not possible.
6 April Austria, supermarkets.
7 April Turkey, shops or crowded public places.
13 April Cameroon, all public spaces.
27 April Most states in Germany, shops.
10 July Scotland, shops.*

I'm too sexy for my face-mask.

I'm too sexy for my face-mask

No.

Boris Johnson certainly looks a bit creepy and Hannibal lecter/‘guest at an orgy’ in his - I know the guardian does go out of its way to find the most unflattering pictures - but why go for the blue ‘faux chamois-leather-look’.

The face mask has slipped. The government is simply full of idiots and there's nothing more to be said

Ministers spent all afternoon at the despatch box admitting they were wrong and that everybody else had been right.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/face-masks-coronavirus-oliver-dowden-matt-hancock-a9618891.html

@YetAnotherSpartacus

I'm too sexy for my face-mask.

Alright for some! I’m far sexier with the majority of my face covered up

I'm finding it a bit off-putting that people are getting annoyed with me for not understanding them with their masks on. It's making me avoid indoor public places but that's probably not a bad thing anyway.

On the plus side, wearing a mask is a great disguise for when I have to walk past my pre-lockdown hairdressers with my bottle-dyed roots!

My 4 year old hasn’t even mentioned anyone wearing a mask... it’s bizarre, his fav thing is watching buses and trains so see so many people wearing a mask and he’s never once mentioned it!

As someone who's worked on a mental health inpatient ward since the start of the pandemic, I can say with absolute certainty that yes - the masks make interpersonal communication and the reading of non verbal cues so much harder. Patients who are already highly distressed are trying to distinguish one member of staff from the next, they can't see when staff are smiling at them, others are experiencing a triggering of personal trauma memories as a result of the PPE... it's not pleasant for them at all. I can honestly say that sitting with a distressed individual trying to offer emotional support with only a small part of my face able to convey empathy and understanding, is extremely challenging. So yes OP, I completely get where you're coming from. It has a huge impact.

@Catastrofuck

Pre coronavirus, finding it hard to understand what HCPs were communicating during labour would have been met with sympathy. With or without masks - it just so happens that in my case, the masks were the issue. But now I have to explain, and I’ll probably still be labelled a childish whiner.

Yep. I made a similar point on a different thread about masks. Since Covid, all empathy and compassion for real life difficulties that aren't Covid has been erased. "You have asthma triggered by breathing humid air? No one gives a shit - wear a mask you selfish idiot." Or "You couldn't communicate with your midwife clearly in labour? No one cares - do you know how many people have died from Covid?" Etc etc etc..... nothing else is valid, apparently. People are strange.

The only strange thing is that there are people who can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea that everything has changed because we are dealing with a virus which spreads easily and for which there is no cure.

mathanxiety

Exactly. It’s baffling.

"You have asthma triggered by breathing humid air? No one gives a shit - wear a mask you selfish idiot." Or "You couldn't communicate with your midwife clearly in labour? No one cares - do you know how many people have died from Covid?"

Or when made up quotes are used as evidence. Not unusual on MN, though.

On the second one, and I was on the thread, the pp used it as an example of how masks had scared her (or similar), rather than presenting a difficulty.

In any case, and given the rates of hospital infections, masks should have been of routine use in hospitals anyway, including in births.

@Lweji

"You have asthma triggered by breathing humid air? No one gives a shit - wear a mask you selfish idiot." Or "You couldn't communicate with your midwife clearly in labour? No one cares - do you know how many people have died from Covid?"

Or when made up quotes are used as evidence. Not unusual on MN, though.

On the second one, and I was on the thread, the pp used it as an example of how masks had scared her (or similar), rather than presenting a difficulty.

In any case, and given the rates of hospital infections, masks should have been of routine use in hospitals anyway, including in births.

I haven't claimed to quote anyone. It was my paraphrasing of the general themes: which are that Covid trumps all and nothing else is worthy of empathy or understanding on here.

More like exaggerating and not quite the general replies, and you know it.

I'm sorry op as sounds like you might be on the spectrum, but when it becomes the norm like everything else in life, we will get used to it and find a way.

I'm sorry op as sounds like you might be on the spectrum, but when it becomes the norm like everything else in life, we will get used to it and find a way.

As it becomes more normal, i expect there will be some who will have a similar, but opposite, reaction when it is phased out as and when we (hopefully) get a vaccine.

I hate them but I’ll wear mine because I have to and because it might help me get back to work sooner.

Felt a bit miserable when my 2 year old was watching Supercar Blondie this morning and asked where her mask was though.

@mathanxiety

The only strange thing is that there are people who can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea that everything has changed because we are dealing with a virus which spreads easily and for which there is no cure.

I agree with this. We are getting a wide array of reactions, assume all of them are predictable to psychology experts, hopefully collectively we can get our head round it soon enough.

I don't consider myself to be necessarily dealing with this in exemplary fashion, I should say.

I think the strongest associations we have with face coverings throughout history is with the oppression of women. I suspect this has a lot to do with the negative reactions. And the medical connotations aren't good either, it's a very strong visual reminder that life is not normal. The Swedish aren't wearing masks are they?

I think it will lead to the death of the high street because why would you go to a shop when you can buy online? And frankly it makes no sense, we don't wear masks in restaurants or pubs or at work all of which involve being in close contact with others or a sustained period but popping into a shop does not.