COVID 19 and Masking

Federal health officials recently announced that fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks in most situations. However, there are individuals that are not ready to take them off. These individuals are frequently asked questions like “Aren’t you sick of wearing that? Wouldn’t you like to take that off so I can see your face?”. Well for some individuals these questions can be upsetting and confusing. Let us not forget that for 2 years we had to wear masks in all places, sometimes even in our own homes, and now we are used to them. Specifically children are amongst the population cautious to go maskless. But why? Well it’s not just one answer, it can be one or more of the following.

1.     Anonymity. It is nice going somewhere and people do not recognize you.  Sometimes people don’t want to be trapped in a conversation when they are in a hurry – not being recognized is a positive at times.

2.     Social anxiety. Or the chance to hide emotions. Someone standing too close to you in the checkout line in the food store- now you can feel free to make a face towards them without retaliation.

3.     Medically vulnerable individual. Let us not forget that there are people in the world that are not able to be vaccinated for whatever reason, or have serious medical conditions making them very susceptible to coming down with a life threatening illness.

4.     Close contact with someone who is medically vulnerable. Many people live or work with someone who is medically fragile. The thought of passing on an illness to them may be too worrisome to go without a mask at this time.

At no time should anyone feel pressure to take their mask off. When someone is ready, they will. And that is their timeline, not anyone else’s. Let us not forget that there are still many places that masks are required such as hospitals, doctors offices and some business.

We are only just beginning to see the psychological effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of individuals.  Let us remain kind and courteous to all.

Here are a few things to say to those who continue to wear masks:

1.     I see you are wearing a mask, I respect your choice to do so.

2.     It is nice of you to wear a mask because your grandmother is sick, you must care for her a lot.

3.     I hear you aren’t feeling well today so you are wearing a mask that is very thoughtful of you and I appreciate it.

4.     OR NOTHING AT ALL (sometimes no comment is the best comment).

-Victoria Britton, LCSW