I'm wondering what types of medical conditions prevent people from wearing masks

[lovelemoncurd]

I'm trying to understand the rationale for not wearing masks. Patients with respiratory conditions routinely wear masks in hospital and it's not a problem so what are the conditions that are prohibiting mask use. After all coronavirus must surely trump them?

Well, the autistic person I know can barely tolerate very simple clothes. He would probably need sedation to wear a mask.

Severe asthma. Autism. PTSD. Severe claustrophobia. Panic attacks.

Coronavirus doesn't trump everything. For most people it's not a serious illness and wearing a mask is scarier to some than catching it.

And this is part of the problem, people see many others with possibly genuine or not reasons to wear one and think why should I.
Added to shop floor workers that dont wear one which makes matters worse.

We should just say no exceptions everyone in a shop wheres a mask, if you genuinely cant then get soneone else to do your shopping then its black and white

Most people can wear masks.
Some can’t. For lots of reasons. Can you honestly not see that some will have physical and mental health issues that mean it’s impossible?

Because you can.
Why wouldn’t you????

@Dadnotamum72 well, it's called not being a twat.

I wear a mask to protect others. I'm not really that scared of coronavirus, no more than I am any other virus.

Is that a serious post Dadnotamum72?

The virus doesn't 'trump' the physical and mental health problems or learning disabilities that people live with day in, day out and can't just turn off when they feel like it.

Wearing a mask also protects yourself, which might be more appealing to your seeming self-centredness than any public health issues.

More people are not wearing them than are where I am. Mostly younger people not wearing.

Ah, the “a disabled person is causing me minor inconvenience, they should stay home” argument. Just stay 2m away, or home yourself, if you’re that worried. If medical experts have agreed guidance that says these exemptions are ok, where are your qualifications to say they’re not?

My sister had autism and also has sensory processing disorder. This means any touch can be painful and she too can only wear certain clothes as they are very uncomfortable so she definitely will not tolerate a mask. It would cause huge distress.

Do you mean oxygen masks in hospital??
If so..... oxygens masks are helping them breathe! And a lot of people find masks make them panic and don't like the feel of them on their face and as soon as they can go onto the the nasal cannula (oxygen that goes up your nose via a tube)

The masks worn by people who have respiratory problems in hospitals would often be of the variety that pump oxygen - a nebuliser type thing. Not remotely the same thing as a face covering, and not as suffocating.

My Dad has severe COPD and a heart condition where one side of his heart no longer pumps properly. He is breathless after shuffling a few steps across his living room, and that is without a face covering. No way can he wear a mask. Trying to would almost certainly finish him off. It is literally that bad.

Are you really trying to say that someone like him, who is at the very end of their life, should not be allowed to join the rest of us on the odd occasion he might make it near to a shop? How discriminatory, and potentially ageist too.

I'm on holiday in a country where they've been compulsory in all closed spaces for sometime now and in 2 weeks I've see one person not wearing one, wearing a shield type of mask instead. It's just the brits that always need to be so special....

Im agog that someone wouldnt want to protect someone weaker than themselves because it wasnt reciprocal

@Dadnotamum72

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That really is one of the most ignorant and twatty comments I have read on here in a very long time.

My asthmatic DH and autistic DD can and do wear masks. Not saying everyone with those conditions can! Just saying they aren't guaranteed opt-out conditions.

My dad has COPD which I think is one of the conditions that you could not wear a mask for but he does anyway just to protect himself more than anything.

I know there are lots of people with various levels of autism that would really struggle to wear a mask though.

Trigeminal neuralgia.

An excruciating disorder whereby the slightest touch or pressure to the face can cause horrific nerve pain.

That’s just one condition off the top of my head but there will be more.

Live and let live, if someone is exempt they will be exempt for a good reason.

My DH got his out to go to Tesco, no issues with planning it all all.

He has a heart condition that almost killed him a few years ago, but didn’t think a mask would affect it. Heart after all, not lungs.

Put the mask on, we started shopping, I’m dancing round, used to wearing one through work etc. Turn around and he’s grey! Heart rates gone up, needs his GTN spray. Lifts mask to take spray and some arse of a woman snaps ‘masks are mandatory now!!’

He’s not anxious etc, it simply seems to alter his breathing and causes his heart condition to flare. It’s really strange, but he can’t help it. So he’s exempt. Never meant to be, never planned to be.

I'm asthmatic at the bad end of year for my condition, so need to make a judgement call. I try to wear when I can, but today I over did it because of social pressure and had to take medication to ease it. I have a cough that I have every year but this year feel judged. It's bad enough living with a condition without being made to feel bad for it.

@eausolovely

My dad has COPD which I think is one of the conditions that you could not wear a mask for but he does anyway just to protect himself more than anything.

I know there are lots of people with various levels of autism that would really struggle to wear a mask though.

Yes, but there are also various levels of COPD. My Dad is particularly severe, and coupled with his heart problems now it means that wearing a mask is a bad idea.

He is virtually house bound now, due to his respiratory issues and hugely reduced mobility, but I hate the thought that people will judge him for not wearing a mask on one of the increasingly rare occasions he manages a much anticipated outing.

I'm asthmatic and would not wear a mask if I had a choice.

I am wearing one now in shoos etc, but in the last ten days I've had two asthmatic episodes wearing one - once after walking ten mins across a shopping centre, the second when I was talking to an optician for five mins.

Both times I had to remove the mask to use my inhaler. Haven't had an asthma attack in over three years otherwise, and had covid symptoms earlier this year (temperature, covid toes and feet, migraine) but no problem at all with my breathing.

I can't breathe through my nose, I can't breathe with a fabric mask but can wear a surgical mask if I need to (pop indoors etc)

I have ptsd from trauma involving suffocation. I attempted to desensentise myself earlier in lockdown when it became obvious masks would become mandatory. As a result of that I was offered an inpatient bed (and very nearly sectioned). I haven't had a proper night's sleep without medication since (2 to 3 hours max), I'm permanently jumpy, rage filled and have suicidal thoughts because I feel so useless plus I can't stop having flashbacks. My 5 year old hates me and wants a "normal" non nightmare having/not jumping a foot in the air when startled/able to go into shops mum. My marriage is suffering because dh is having to wfh, look after the kids because I'm so exhausted I can't think straight half the time, do the shopping and keep an eye on me. That's 2 years of therapy down the drain.

I really wish I could show the "no exemptions" brigade how it feels to me to try and wear a mask, the memories, the flashbacks and the fear, thinking I'm going to die under him fighting to breathe. I must have tried six or seven plus a visor and numerous scarves. I think I have scars from each one, ripping at my skin, digging my nails into my hands until they bleed, trying to force my brain to see it for what it is, a stupid piece of fabric or paper but I can't override those memories and then it becomes a vicious circle.

I'm just not going anywhere they are mandatory and if that ends up becoming outside, I'm done. It's bad enough that this was done to me in the first place, but I'm not sure I can stand having to relive it constantly all over again.