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.

@YgritteSnow

No I don't feel scared or anything negative. And the massive fuss around wearing them makes me think of a gang of teenagers who purposely make a fuss about absolutely everything out of their ordinary just because they like making a fuss and enjoy the drama of it all.

Absolutely!

@openplankitchen

At no other time can I imagine strangers trying to stop me from catching something from them!!

When my kids have D&V, I keep them off school for the required time after symptoms have stopped; when DD had chickenpox, we didn’t go to the theatre even though she was feeling fine by that point, in case we passed it on to, for example, a pregnant woman or someone with low immunity.

Fortunately I rarely get ill, but if I do I flush tissues down the loo rather than putting them in an open bin. And I wouldn’t visit my elderly mum if I had something I might pass on. Do you never take any precautions like this to avoid passing on an illness.

I agree OP.
Looking at someone's facial expressions is a major way in which we decide if they have friendly intentions or not.
I find it a bit scary too 😷🙁

No I don't feel scared or anything negative. And the massive fuss around wearing them makes me think of a gang of teenagers who purposely make a fuss about absolutely everything out of their ordinary just because they like making a fuss and enjoy the drama of it all.

So true...

I find wearing a bra or a pair of jeans uncomfortable but I still wear then to go to the shops.

I find them sinister to be honest

Why on earth would you think wearing a mask is sinister? It to protect others.

I understand your fear to an extent, OP. They do seem a bit dehumanising and people are freaked out by that. Bit like the uncanny valley - people don't mind robots until they start to look like humans, and then that bothers us on a really deep level. Agree with a PP that it does all feel dystopian, and seems to be impacting women more (but that's a whole other thread).

I wear a mask. I hate not being able to talk properly through one. I don't have health anxiety and am not terrified of catching Covid, beyond leaving my toddler without a Mum, which is a normal fear I think.

The people I see disregarding social distancing where I live are the non mask wearers, some of whom seem to think the worry about the virus is exaggerated and not wearing masks is seen as a point of pride.

My friend caught Covid. She's a marathon runner in her early 30s. She was ill for two months. Even her periods have changed since having the virus - it has impacted on everything. If I'm asymptomatic I'd rather not give that to someone who might die of it.

Yup! I lip read and it's made everything very tricky

I find it weird and creepy, and I felt the same when I saw news footage even before CV of people in Japan etc routinely walking about with them on.

I’m in Scotland so need to wear them in shops now. I just get on with it but like all the other CV restrictions I’ll be glad when we no longer have to do it.

Also saying you don’t like them or find them creepy isn’t making a massive fuss. I’ve been wearing them for weeks now as I knew they’d become compulsory and I wanted to be used to them. I always roll my eyes at the virtue signalling of those who claim to care oh so much about other people getting sick. If that was the case you’d wear them all through flu season too - do you?

I wear them purely because I have to and will do anything that might help get us out of this shite sooner. I don’t want people to get ill of course but that’s not why I wear a mask.

I’m in Scotland so now it’s mandatory to wear them in shops. I took my six year old to the shops the other day. She wore her mask for the first couple of shops and by the time we reached the third shop she said she didn’t like it any more, was too hot, couldn’t breathe and please could she take it off.

I let her. It all just seems a bit much to expect kids that young to wear them. I don’t much like it myself but I can put up with it.

I thought people in Asia wore them before this as their cities are so polluted. I also don’t like the waste of the disposable ones. Poor planet. No one gives a fuck any more. All they care about is Covid.

Yes, in Asia there is the pollution issue.

But it was also flu (South China has excellent climate and high avian and swine populations, so it's one of the commoner places for new strains to emerge) and then of course SARS

You do get used to it very quickly, and it becomes normal. It'll seem that way here too - because even though it's way less of a risk in sunny weather, come the cool autumn people will want to see transmission stay low, and (ones hopes) will realise that they need to do their bit.

And the main bits you can do are:

• frequent handwashing
• catch coughs and sneezes (on sleeve if no hanky/mask and bin disposable tissues properly)
• wear a mask
• keep 2m away from strangers unless it's really necessary to do otherwise (and mitigate if so)

And throw away masks properly. It seems discarded ones are already becoming an environmental issue and danger to wildlife

Sorry - that was all rather bossy! But it is what needs to be done to make sure we get through this first winter. And what seems a bit weird now (masks) will rapidly become very normal and so you won't 'see' if any more

I don't enjoy wearing one but I do. I think it's just the process of adapting and some will make the change quicker than others. We are told that the virus is here to stay so we need to take some measured precautions whilst we get on with the rest of our lives.

I've experimented with a couple of different masks, found a shape that fits properly and am going to order some in sunny colours and get on with it.

I really can't imagine why anyone would need to wear a mask solo kayaking however.

Sorry you feel like that but I don't feel like that at all. I feel warmer towards the person as they gave considered others.

Lolz at the first comment about mask wearers being terrified! I can't imagine being so selfish this was my go to. What a mind set to live in. That actually quite sad.

In answer to the OP - I struggle a lot with people wearing masks. Before anyone assumes anything, I understand it’s for the greater good and all that, as well as free choice on their part to wear one.

I’m autistic, and have both sensory issues and processing issues. I struggle to decipher speech - I can hear it, but the sounds don’t make much sense. Like hearing someone speak a foreign language. So I rely on lip-reading, it gives me the visual clue for what the speech is, in addition to showing general mouth expressions to indicate tone. I just cannot look at people’s eyes. Never have been able to.

Sensory issues mean wearing masks myself is beyond me. It just is. I’ve tried and I can’t. I used to have to wear one for work but couldn’t, so ended up wearing a full hood - but I could only stand wearing that for 10 mins max at a time, partly due to sensory issues and partly due to it triggering migraines.

I don’t go anywhere except work now anyway though - things have changed and I just have no idea how the world works now. DP tried to help me go to a shop for the first time since March last week, but I didn’t understand what was going on so just bolted. I spent years building up the ability to be relatively independent, years putting into place routines and strategies, but it’s all gone now. I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back. I’m incredibly lucky I have a very understanding DP or gods only know what I’d do. I feel for anyone else struggling right now.

And throw away masks properly. It seems discarded ones are already becoming an environmental issue and danger to wildlife

Yes this. The littering of them here is already terrible and it’s only been a few days since they were compulsory in shops.

I work in a pharmacy and wear a mask. We try extra hard to speak loudly and clearly.

If you still can't hear us then please say something. We can move behind our screened counter and take off our mask so that you can see our mouth better and our words will be clearer.

Especially when it comes to your health and medication we would rather you let us know if you don't understand.

Maybe I'm a bit weird but they masks don't bother me at all. I actually quite like seeing the fabric ones, to see all the different patterns people have chosen.

It looks like masks have become the new thing for people to get obsessed with.
It's replaced the ''gods sake, stay at home" and people spying on their neighbours and Facebook groups full of pictures of people being out and about in places socialising etc.

Now Facebook will be full of people tattling on those not wearing masks, this will be the new fixation.

I'm very cynical and starting to think the government knows all this will happen and its all deflection to keep us occupied

We should be wearing them every winter. Partly to 'protect the NHS' because it gets overwhelmed every winter but just for public health. There's a British culture of having to work when you're ill so in the winter everyone is spreading germs.

Dont mind the white surgical looking ones, it's the black ones with skills and patterns that make me a bit weary.

@ReturnofSaturn

It looks like masks have become the new thing for people to get obsessed with. It's replaced the ''gods sake, stay at home" and people spying on their neighbours and Facebook groups full of pictures of people being out and about in places socialising etc.

Now Facebook will be full of people tattling on those not wearing masks, this will be the new fixation.

I'm very cynical and starting to think the government knows all this will happen and its all deflection to keep us occupied

Bang on I reckon

Police won’t come out to our bloody awful neighbours weilding garden shears as weapons because they’re too busy apparently dealing with Covid - which is apparently mostly curtain twitchers reporting infractions.

I fucking hate what our country has become.

Meh.

I don't really notice strangers unless they get in my way. I just mind my own business.

ReturnofSaturn
I'm very cynical and starting to think the government knows all this will happen and its all deflection to keep us occupied

Two things I've learned so far:

1 The government will do/say anything to make it look like they're on top of things.

2 Sanctimoniousness is unhelpful.
Wear a mask (properly) and don't guilt others.