When they started recommending that people wear two masks instead of just one, we did posts ridiculing the idea: why not wear 10? What we were surprised to see though was how many people said they were already double-masking — we even saw a man who said he’d be wearing a mask for at least five years if not longer. You may have just seen our thread of people replying to Jesse Kelly sharing their horror stories of the COVID lockdowns, from businesses failing to people not being able to see, or hold funerals for, their dying relatives. But what about the people who are hooked on COVID restrictions? CTV News out of Canada explains that dropping restrictions could cause a lot of people anxiety.
Melissa Coutu Zuber writes:
[Psychology professor Steve] Joordens expects the majority of people, even those who feel initial stress around reopening, will resume previous social interactions in public settings quite easily.But others, including people with conditions that make them more vulnerable, will have a harder time. For those who have linked certain scenarios — like large crowds and unmasked individuals — to threats of danger, Joordens said reopening could bring about conditions similar to post-traumatic stress disorder.
PTSD?
As so many in the United States don’t seem to understand, lifting mask mandates doesn’t mean you can’t keep wearing a mask as long as you’d like to.