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?

Personally don’t see any medical issues that prevent people wearing masks lots of doctors have gave evidence on this.

My consultant psychiatrist disagrees with you.

Lack of ears? I suppose that would mean a snood would work better.

Idon't know really OP. There are a lot of people to whom the new rule doesn't seem to apply. I expect these special people don't emit covid germs though, so don't have to worry about other people.

@ComeOnBabyPopMyBubble Thank You thats very kind

Im fine Im just gobsmacked at some of the attitudes ive seen during this pandemic.

@michelle1504 are you always this rude? Vile way to speak to someone

I feel sorry for you

HeIenaDove Sun 02-Aug-20 00:50:36
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/01/mask-face-coverings-i-cant-wear-one-health-reasons

Mask rage: ‘One man told me I shouldn't be allowed out if I can't wear one’
With face coverings compulsory in many settings, people unable to comply for health reasons are being challenged and abused
In the past few weeks, Paul Feeley has been abused four times for not wearing a mask on public transport. “I have a disability lanyard, which signifies I have a hidden disability. I tried to show it … And all I got back was a complete torrent of abuse.”

The most recent incident took place just after he first spoke to the Observer on Thursday. The abuse has made Feeley, who suffers from fibromyalgia, borderline personality disorder and panic attacks, feel “extraordinarily angry, anxious and upset”. He is unable to wear a face covering due to his medical conditions, and legally he is exempt – but he is now worried about travelling on buses and trams in his home town of Manchester. “One man said to me, ‘If you can’t wear a mask, you shouldn’t be allowed out.’”

Incidents of “mask rage” are making disabled people who are unable to wear a covering fearful of going out in public, charities warn, as they call on the government today to raise awareness about the legitimate reasons many people cannot wear them.

A wide range of charities – including Mind, Dementia UK, the National Autistic Society, Mencap, Asthma UK and Sense – want the government to mount a public awareness campaign about hidden disabilities and the mask exemption rules. These state that, for example, you do not need to wear a face covering in shops or on public transport if you find it difficult because of a physical or mental illness or disability, or if you are assisting someone who relies on lip reading to communicate, or if wearing a mask would cause you “severe distress”.

You can feel like you’re being smothered and suffocated. If people understood, they would feel more empathy
Tim Nicholls, National Autistic Society
Charities are being inundated with calls from disabled people who are feeling extremely anxious. “We’ve seen a significant number of people raising it [the issue],” said Tim Nicholls, spokesperson for the National Autistic Society. “What they have told us is that they can’t wear a mask and they also don’t feel like they can go out without one because they will be challenged, so they are just going to stay in.”

Wearing a mask can be overwhelming for an autistic person, he added. “You can feel like you’re being smothered and suffocated. I think that if people understood, they would feel more empathy and sympathy.

Face masks can also be problematic for people living with learning disabilities and anxiety disorders, leading to extreme distress or panic attacks, the charities say. “If people aren’t able to wear a mask for health reasons, they may feel guilty and worry about what others think. Challenging or verbally assaulting someone [for not wearing a mask] is likely to negatively affect their mental health, set their recovery back and could even prevent them from leaving the house,” said Stephen Buckley, spokesperson for the mental health charity Mind.

‘It’s been a real rollercoaster’: navigating autism in the Covid-19 chaos
Read more
The government needs to do more to communicate the exemption rules, said Sarah MacFadyen, head of policy at Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation. “There’s not a lot of clarity in the public communications about who does and doesn’t need to wear a mask, and why that is,” she said. “The government needs to communicate that better and explain the full range of reasons why some people – such as those with severe lung conditions – might find it impossible.”

The charities are also calling on supermarket chains and public transport companies to make announcements reminding people not to assume that anyone not wearing a mask is breaking the rules. “The government needs to lead the way, but it’s also about supermarkets, transport companies and other places where masks are needed, being confident about communicating that – and saying please don’t challenge anyone,” said Sarah White, of the disability charity Sense"

@Dinosauratemydaffodils I agree with you that many people have been failed. I'm not sure I can point the finger at who exactly has done the failing, because we can't expect the government to single handedly give everyone everything they need and want.

It's a difficult one. I grew up in a rough council estate, single parent family on benefits and eventually became a young carer for my mum who has a disability. Have suffered physical and emotional abuse from said mother when I was very young. So I do know how tough life can be. I took advantage of the opportunities that were specifically for people such as myself, widening educational access for disadvantaged groups etc and got out of the trap.

I often wonder to myself, at what point do we stop blaming the system and start expecting people to show some level of personal responsibility towards their own situation? There has to be a point somewhere surely?

@Sennetti no, only when people who I have never spoken to in my life start cursing at me out of the blue, as helenadove did :) To the majority of people, I am pretty polite. I simply treat others as I am treated.

@ComeOnBabyPopMyBubble

Ah, right, your views are formed by your heritage and we all know that Eastern European countries have an outstanding track record in human rights and Equality discrimination

Oy! I'm EE too!

I'm hoping the grin is because you know I was being deliberately outrageous in order to try and make a point about sweeping generalisations! (Reading some of your comments on this thread I'm pretty confident that is the case)

You don’t have to agree with me . just think if your medical issue prevents you wearIng a mask maybe get someone else to pop shops for you . If nhs staff can keep them on for 12 hour shifts, don’t think our government are being unreasonable to ask us to wear them on a 20 min / 1/2 shop round a supermarket. .

@Sallydimebar because we, thankfully, no longer live in a society where we lock people away, out of sight, for having a disability. Visible or invisible.

You're condemning people, who often have fought long and hard to live with some independence to stay at home. How is that right?

My friends son is 27 has autism lockdown has been difficult for them , but now she is keeping him out of places where masks are needed as yes he would find if difficult. If everyone did there bit we could hopefully move out of this a bit sooner . Couple came in supermarket this evening security guard “can you put masks on please “ “what it’s not law “ this company would like you to comply he says well we’ve left them at home 🙄security guy can’t challenge them any more and lets them continue that is an example of people’s selfishness. Friend will continue to keep her son away with great difficulty.

1. My example was deliberately were extreme. The fact that you think (@lbake) it's not an example, but a generalization says more about you than me.

1. I don't want to police anyone. I want to live in a country where common sense prevails and people can act responsibly for the common good. I can now see (not because of this thread obv.) that I have chosen very unwisely in this respect.

And atm I would like to see my kid go back to school for instance. That can only happen if the virus is in-check. The gov is failing on so many levels, I thought that people have more brain cells than the fuckwits in power, but it seems that it was a daydream that never happened.

1. My heritage is what it is. Not proud of it, but neither am I ashamed. Not my choice where to be born, so don't really care. I mostly grew up in an arab country though.. Anything to say about that?

1. I would really like to understand the reason why ppl are so against masks, but it's not gonna be on MN that I will find out. Or probably will never crack this very British exceptionalist attitude....

1. I have multiple disabilities (invisible) and yet I still take full responsibility for my life. Don't have a blue badge (could), never applied for benefits. Most of the time where there's a will, there's a way. Not always, that is true. But for those we should have a reliable social net.

There is a huge difference between someone totally dependent with everything on others and let's say someone being asthmatic (again, just an example to a point, not a generalization)

Locking them away please . One friend sons with autism is 27 another’s son with autism is 8 and I’ve seen 1st hand how hard it’s been for them . They would just like everyone who can manage to follow simple rules our government puts in place to follow them . Like the selfish couple who left their masks at home well don’t come in supermarket then spreading your germs around go back home and get them . That way both boys with autism might get back to normality a bit quicker .

@Sallydimebar

My friends son is 27 has autism lockdown has been difficult for them , but now she is keeping him out of places where masks are needed as yes he would find if difficult. If everyone did there bit we could hopefully move out of this a bit sooner . Couple came in supermarket this evening security guard “can you put masks on please “ “what it’s not law “ this company would like you to comply he says well we’ve left them at home 🙄security guy can’t challenge them any more and lets them continue that is an example of people’s selfishness. Friend will continue to keep her son away with great difficulty.

^^ This is what individual responsibility is. (not the couple's entitlement attitude)

I'm not sure I can point the finger at who exactly has done the failing, because we can't expect the government to single handedly give everyone everything they need and want.

We saw a couple of very depressingly common themes, a lot of csa leading to care (never adoption) to young offenders to prison (sometimes via the army) for men and csa leading to care to drugs to sex "work" to prison for women. They mostly dropped out of education and no one seemed to notice or care.

I don't think there are any easy answers but in their cases I'm quite happy to point the finger at their abusers, the family members who turned a blind eye, the SWs who wrote them off, the teachers who didn't notice or care about their absences as a starting point.

We did have some brilliant success stories in getting people to believe in themselves and turn their lives around but with the resources we could access precovid, it was hard enough. I imagine it will be considerably harder now.

Or buy a mask which are by the tills but no as they seem to think the rules don’t apply to them . They carried on strolling around the supermarket without a care .

You don’t have to agree with me . just think if your medical issue prevents you wearIng a mask maybe get someone else to pop shops for you . If nhs staff can keep them on for 12 hour shifts, don’t think our government are being unreasonable to ask us to wear them on a 20 min / 1/2 shop round a supermarket.

I presume that was to me? If so I've already said multiple times in this that I'm not going anywhere masks are mandatory (even though that's making my mental health considerably worse because I can't access my sleeping pills due to not being able to see my GP in person). Haven't been in a shop since mid March.

@Sallydimebar

Or buy a mask which are by the tills but no as they seem to think the rules don’t apply to them . They carried on strolling around the supermarket without a care .

Why keep banging on about that particular couple on a thread about medical conditions?

Dinosauratemydaffodils I’m sorry this is a difficult situation for you as it is for many and I wish for you and my two friends who’s son’ s worlds have been turned upside down on many levels , people could just follow the rules instead of trying to bend /avoid them .

You just don't know. I look like a normal healthy person, I don't have any disabilities, work FT and appear a "standard" human being mostly
Yet my medical condition is invisible and needed me to shield and means I have virtually no immune system

If you can't tell that, then you can't tell who can and can't wear a mask

@michelle1504

HelenaDove you're not very smart are you? As I said.. In general, around 30% haven't been wearing masks (and I stated that I was being conservative in that estimate). However the last bus that I was on, I'd say around 60%...

I'm not sure what you're not understanding about that? Do you have comprehension issues Helena? Is there something wrong with you that stops you from being able to follow/understand basic conversations? I mean what I said, it doesn't take a degree in rocket science to understand...

However I have checked out your username. You're not quite all there, are you?

Goodnight.

I've reported this. It's just one long personal attack.

Why keep banging on about that particular couple on a thread about medical conditions?
Because if people who clearly don’t have medical conditions could wear them we could move on from masks being needed a bit quicker ! Making life more bearable for those with M.c to freely shop without being judged.

@MrsTerryPratchett so have I.

I came here to say trigeminal neuralgia but I see it has already been said. I've spoken about mine a few times before on MN, mine is due to nerve damage from my brain tumor. I'd say less than 1/3 of the days in an average month my medication lets me lead a normal life (I have really needed to see my consultant for some months now in regards to changing my medication however they are not doing routine appts at the moment still due to COVID and they won't let me try something else with the GP with it being such a specific issue). Most days my entire face aches and I'm so drained from it that it hurts to even blink, I get shooting pains when a breeze touches my face, I can't eat because I'm instantly sick because the pain makes me so nauseous. This happens with no notice or trigger, but I'm a single parent with a SEN child, I have work and university, we need food and if that's the day I've planned to shop for the week so I don't really have much choice. I don't HAVE anyone to shop for me. I can't afford to pay or trust someone online to do it considering allergies and food sensitivities. Especially with COVID I plan what we are eating and buying carefully to avoid waste and last up until the next big shop so I don't have to go in between if it can be helped. In these cases I desperately need to shop but am in pain, I can't wear a mask.

So many people here are just plain ignorant. Disabled people should stay at home permanently eh?! Just because your child's best friend's uncle's hamster has said condition and still manages doesn't mean everyone can. Just because someone doesn't look like they're ill by your standards doesn't mean they aren't. The ableism is disgusting. I would rather a few people got away with not wearing one when they should than every disabled person who cannot wear one suffer. If you don't feel the same... I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about equality for the disabled.

@concernedabc

starray people on ventilators are unconscious and paralysed or heavily sedated . Similar with CPAP and NIV - you won’t be well enough to fully comprehend what’s happening .

When patients wake up they’re often restrained so they don’t whip the mask off eg boxing gloves . Used to work in ITU step down unit .

They’re also usually bedridden, under constant 1-1 care, on heavy doses of morphine or similar, and not required to think coherently or to walk around a shop, perform complex tasks such as doing food shopping, or be responsible for others eg children . So it doesn’t compare at all .

Hand on heart, I was fully conscious and knew everything that was going on, when I was on CPAP. It was an absolute ordeal, even with morphine, as I felt suffocated by the CPAP mask. I just had to keep reminding myself that it was for my own good. I also witnessed other patients constantly trying to remove their masks and gasping for water. It is truly not a criticism of anyone who can't wear a mask. I'm just wondering if people who can't handle a mask realize that if they catch a serious respiratory illness, that they may have to wear a much more constricting form of mask. I think it is actually worse having to wear a mask for hours when you already have trouble breathing and are bedridden.