Anxiousness/Going out without mask

[Grace360]

Usually I always always wear a mask outside. I'm not vaccinated so it's my way of keeping myself safe.

However I've been running low on them. I went to a party on Friday and had it on, on and off but mostly on. Only time I really pulled it down around my chin was when the venue got too hot. Otherwise it was on.

Then Saturday I did a Walmart run to get more masks, and I walked out of the house without my mask on of course. I went to the Walmart to get them and went that entire trip, of course, maskless. Has anyone ever wore mask an extended period, like for months or a long time in general, took it off, and then breathing without it felt almost odd/foreign? I don't know what it is but it's giving me anxiety. Its a hard feeling in general to describe how it felt breathing without it. Idk. Just talking about it I guess.

 

[Cuchculan]

As humans we are not made to wear masks all of the time. Doing so you might find yourself coughing a bit more. Your breathing might be a bit off too. I have not wore a mask in so long. It is not something people are doing over here any more. It stopped ages ago. The whole Pandemic thing was downgraded. Even before that I never wore a mask. You have simply gotten used to your mask. Don't know what it is like to not wear one now. In time, without a mask, all will feel normal again.

 

[Grace360]

As humans we are not made to wear masks all of the time. Doing so you might find yourself coughing a bit more. Your breathing might be a bit off too. I have not wore a mask in so long. It is not something people are doing over here any more. It stopped ages ago. The whole Pandemic thing was downgraded. Even before that I never wore a mask. You have simply gotten used to your mask. Don't know what it is like to not wear one now. In time, without a mask, all will feel normal again.

I suppose so. I was just having fears I guess about germ exposure, since I haven't been exposed to so much in a long time, and I was for like a 45 minute- hour long trip. I hope my immune system didn't awaken, I guess.

 

[Cuchculan]

I suppose so. I was just having fears I guess about germ exposure, since I haven't been exposed to so much in a long time, and I was for like a 45 minute- hour long trip. I hope my immune system didn't awaken, I guess.

We are at a point were people will have to get used to trying to get back to normal again. Nobody is stopping anybody from wearing a mask. That is up to each person. You might have a mask on and others might not have a mask on. Exposure to germs, as you call it, will be there unless everybody on the train / bus and at the party has a mask on. That is not going to happen. You will find less and less people wearing masks. Over here we see the odd one or two wearing them now. Nobody else is. Bit pointless the odd one or two wearing them only. When all the other people have not got one on. I am sure some fear will remain for some people as we try and get back to normal again.

 

[MATD]

The average masks do not protect us from germs or viruses. The average mask stops anything entering at 80 microns or larger, viruses are much, much smaller, at around 10 microns, easily entering the average masks. The CDC did a turn around admitting masks don’t work.

 

[Hobbit]

I was wearing one for a long time as well . I worked in a retirement home so it was mandatory for us . I was a little anxious at first to go out and about without one too . Felt a little vulnerable lol . But things are good now , hope you feel confidant enough to go without one soon .

 

[mollyfin]

Masks supposedly don't work...interesting then how my mom and partner both caught RSV (my mother at an event I was also attending, in the usual n95), but I avoided it (masked at home, didn't get it there either). Haven't gotten sick at all since getting covid initially (with thanks to my mother for bringing that one home then refusing to stay out of my personal space until I finally came down with it, lol); used to get sick a couple times a year. Not doing anything else different.

I'm not saying everyone has to wear one at all times. But the whole "they don't work" thing is ridiculous - doctors, surgeons, etc, wouldn't bother with them at all if they didn't. Covid isn't the only dangerous illness out there (although I haven't caught that again either...). Effects of Covid are cumulative over repeated infections and I'm not planning on being part of that experiment if I can help it. Hell, I wish I'd been doing this my entire adult life - my immune system is plenty built up and I spend a lot of time in crowded rooms with people coughing into the side of my face or the back of my head. Every cold I get puts me down for at least a week - how much time of my life have I wasted being sick?

All that said though, you're fine. Mask or no mask, the odds of getting sick aren't like they were two or three years ago. And doctors are much better equipped to deal with it if you do.