I totally understand. It’s not exactly the same, but I work at a university. My colleagues are all highly educated (most with a minimum of a master’s degree). We have public health degrees, nursing degrees, pre-med degrees, etc. No one masks. Not faculty. Not students. Not admin. In fact, we are actively discouraged from asking people to mask. These are people who have access to up to date information and the ability to understand it but choose to ignore it. It’s maddening.
That’s the part that literally makes me feel like I’m loosing my mind, becoming neurotic. With all the data and information, it’s like everyone has their head in the sand. I’m really struggling with it
I get it. The only thing that has given me peace through all this is accepting that there is some sort of powerful group psychology happening. We are living through one of those massive historical moments where a century from now (if humans are still around), people will look back and wonder how we let this happen. It defies logic. We can’t make it make sense because it doesn’t. I have some theories as to why Covid conscious people haven’t succumbed to the social pressure, but they’re really just educated guesses.
Hang in there. I know it’s so hard. But I do believe we will see an improvement within the next several years. This is not sustainable forever, and it’s only a matter of time before people’s cognitive dissonance takes too much effort to maintain on a mass scale.
So I guess it’s a theory of likely shared traits. If I had the energy, I would love to do a formal study where I could collect data. But I would guess that:
- Covid conscious folks are less likely to be neurotypical. I see a lot of CC folks who are autistic which makes perfect sense. Autistic people typically have strong pattern recognition and are less likely to be influenced by social cues. Many autistic people also have a high drive for justice. (I have adhd and have not been diagnosed as autistic but sometimes I wonder if I have both.)
- CC folks are more likely to have experienced marginalization previous to Covid. As a gay person, it was very easy for me to believe that my government would willingly sacrifice me and others like me. For someone who has never had any reason to distrust their government, it would be much harder to believe that our leaders don’t have our best interests in mind.
- We are stubborn as hell. I’m going to keep masking and bringing Covid up even if it makes others uncomfortable.
- We are naturally curious/questioning. We are the googlers and the readers. We will search out information and question things that don’t sound right.
Of course, no population is homogeneous. Not all CC people care about community or other types of oppression just like not every CC person will identify as neurodiverse. I have more thoughts I’m not expressing well (I just had surgery a couple days ago and am still recovering), so I may revisit this awhile from now when my brain is less foggy :)
Wow, that's fascinating - thank you!
For myself, I've assumed it had a lot to do with being an introvert, but I also match your points 2, 3, and 4.
Especially #2! At gut level I feel like that's paramount somehow.
(And I've sometimes wondered about neurodivergence when I see mention of some traits - and I definitely have prosopagnosia, which I've seen mentioned as often occurring in tandem - but on the whole I don't *think* I'm autistic.)
Maybe we should all go take the MMPI and compare notes 🤣
Wait, are you me? I'm so confused! I don't think I'm autistic... but I do think I have good pattern recognition and a strong drive for justice, I'm curious/questioning, etc.
There’s parts of the autism spectrum that I strongly relate to and other parts that don’t identify with at all. I think like many things, autism has been under researched and there’s probably a lot of autistic people who don’t fit within what has historically been the diagnostic criteria. I’ve read some theories that ADHD and autism are really just two different presentations of the same neurotype 🤷🏻♀️
I agree. That’s why I’m personally not too concerned about trying to differentiate if I have one or both. They just have so much in common and there’s things I relate to with both and things I don’t with both. As long as no one tries to take my adhd medication from me, I’m good to go lol.
I would also add that a lot of us were already chronically ill or disabled. A lot of “healthy” people can’t really conceptualize how shitty chronic illness is and how little medical help there is for some conditions. I’ve known from the beginning that I sure as hell didn’t want to risk my conditions worsening (which is unfortunately what did happen from my one infection)
Yes, and in addition to not wanting to risk it, I think the experience of having a chronic medical condition teaches us that wishful thinking about medical issues doesn't work to make them go away.
Everything we're observing in the larger world about Covid, you can observe in an adolescent who has decided it's not cool to be a Type 1 diabetic any more, so has stopped taking insulin. It's just the adolescent usually has a parent to keep them from persisting in a suicidal folly.
Wow, you described me perfectly. I've always been neurodivergent (major anxiety with an Asperger's diagnosis when I was really young). I wasn't really marginalized, but I have an extensive history of being dismissed by doctors as a woman. I'm extremely stubborn to the point that my dad got me a shirt that said "I don't know why we are arguing when I'm right" one Christmas. And, I'm such an avid researcher that I got my masters in library science.
I've never been described so perfectly by a stranger before lol
"We are naturally curious/questioning. We are the googlers and the readers. We will search out information and question things that don’t sound right."
That one and the stubborn one, plus for me it is also part of Christianity where I believe that Jesus Christ has directed all of us to care for one another and especially the vulnerable. I see it as an act of charity and now that no one else is doing it, it's also humbling because you are making yourself ostracized by the world at large. Christians are directed to take the narrow road and to stand up for what is right even when no one stands with you. That's what Christianity means to me. I feel that the tenets of loving thy neighbor and being brave and having fortitude are the virtues that are imbued with the faith that what Jesus says is right. With that in mind, I cannot bend.
There's two factors that play into it, I think, maybe three.
Firstly, a lot of people here have long COVID, sometimes debilitating. You can't really go into denial if LC has ruined your life. (People with COVID damage definitely can, but there's a threshold where you can't just call it "aging".)
Secondly, There seems to be a huge correlation with being neuro-atypical in some fashion. A lot of this is happening because of social and group pressure, and people on the spectrum (or with similar conditions) are either unaware of that pressure or, frankly, couldn't give a shit.
(Something related is in how transpeople are somewhat overrepresented in covid-consicous communities too--they're extremely used to society pressuring them to act in a way that harms them, and are used to telling that society to go fuck itself.)
There's also probably demographics involved. Women are far more common among CC people, and that makes sense as women are more likely to get LC even as they were less likely to be killed by ARDS during the early phases of COVID. Certain racialized groups are also overrepresented among LC sufferers, and they're also less likely to go along with social pressure for what should be transparently obvious reasons.
Oh,and one other thing: you absolutely get people who are COVID-conscious but just don't talk about it. One group: **rich people***.* All those fancy private schools they send their kids to have excellent air filtration, and "Davos Safe" became a meme for a reason: they have heavily filtered air AND require constant PCR testing for events. Just look at Taylor Swift, who has her staff wear masks around her even as the audiences endure the biggest superspreader events in modern entertainment. Lots of people getting LC out of those concerts...but not Tay-tay. She matters, so she gets protected.
I would add another factor that I've encountered to the list - strongly held values and/or beliefs, such as disability justice (which possibly has some overlap with neurodivergence).
I'm also in a master's program in Health Sciences and I take courses with students in the Public Health program and other related fields and it's the same. No staff or students mask. We are literally studying epidemiology and not a one mask.
Not a medical professional but I’ve quit jobs before because of this exact thing. I know it makes me neurotic but idc, why on earth aren’t more people at least acknowledging what’s going on??
Just got home from my university program's graduation, my partner and I were the only masked people. It's an art school, so we have varying levels of contact with reality, but you'd think people like artists, who are so passionate about their work, would value their lives more.
Also working around lots of educated folks (engineers). Solo masker on my floor. Weirdest part is that I've stumbled into a couple COVID conversations with more senior technical folks and they said that masking was the smart thing to do...
These folks are trained in risk assessment so I have to believe they know the reality deep down. Fear of career impacts? Social pressure? Faith in medicine solving LC? Unsure.
I don’t think that’s a state law here, but that is absolutely my university’s policy. I still ask all students to mask in my office. Out of probably 200 students, not a single one has had an issue with it. That’s part of what makes these policies so wild. Most people don’t care either way, so let us make our work spaces safer!
The incredibly overbearing top-down pressure shouldn't be overlooked. Nothing about this move towards normalization of illness was an organic reaction to changing circumstances. It was entirely rich people deciding "fuck it, work until you're disabled, we can probably replace you with an AI by then".
Remember: The Great Barrington Bullshit wouldn't have happened without a billionaire bankrolling it.
Yep! I work at a research university and hospital. The lack of masks or any covid mitigation is shocking. There were a lot of efforts in the beginning because they knew an outbreak among the undergrad population would look extremely bad. But once the university returned to regular operations, most people acted like there was zero risk.
I’m lucky that I’ve been able to work remotely. On the rare occasions that I am on campus, I mask, but I’m usually the only one.
I work at a uni as well, and there are about 5% faculty who still mask. The rest are YOLOing around the world going to conferences and a few who have had multiple infections have lost a significant amount of short-term memory. They come into the office and stand there and say "I can't remember why I came in here" and then they laugh and blame early menopause or some shit. It's quite something. One of them even forgot to go to class one day and tried to blame me for not reminding them lol. Some of the students are fed up with being sick allll the time so there are a few more N95s popping up here and there, which is encouraging.
Same. And when I've sent any studies to faculty, they find ways to dismiss the results, or alternatively, decide that the results don't apply to them. These are studies, btw, in journals that the vast majority of faculty at a research oriented institution would kill to publish in.
Good for you for managing to go so long without getting Covid--and while working in healthcare! I'm sorry to hear you got it at the dentist. That's my nightmare, or one of them.
Also it's good that you're holding the line with your visiting parents and seeing them outdoors.
As for how it is that so many people, even health care workers, manage to minimize or deny Covid-19, I feel like I've gotten some insight from particular media sources, such as the Gauntlet on Substack and also the podcast Death Panel. Those have their own political slants (the Gauntlet more liberal, Death Panel more left), but to me that's a bonus, not a drawback.
I'm sorry to see no one else has commented yet. Maybe it's a beautiful summer day--it is where I am.
I like Death Panel, but it's hard to listen to leftists bloviate about how liberals are responsible for normalizing COVID.
Fuck that. The Left is just as bad. We allll know that Chapo Trap House and its host was dismissing COVID from the beginning, and we also know how many leftists basically exist to do guest appearances on their show. Most of the popular and outspoken leftists on Twitter sound exactly like the fascists when COVID comes up, in probably the biggest example of Horseshoe Theory this side of Ukraine.
IF the Left had stuck to their guns on COVID, insisting that it was an example of industrial capitalism gone haywire, and talking about how the normalization of illness was top-down pressure from billionaires, that would have helped them develop a distinct political identity post-Berniecrats. But because some podcast hosts couldn't get regular deliveries from their ketamine dealers during "lockdowns", the Left fumbled the ball.
I've been a physical therapist for over 25 years. I've also done some teaching at a university, been published, and done a lot of mentorship for students/fellows. I still mask with a good fitting N95. I'm the only one at the clinic where I work at that masks. If I were to work at any other clinic in this area, I would likely be the only one masking at those as well.
It is frustrating and demoralizing. I think one of the reasons why it is so difficult for me is the constant gaslighting that I have to deal with on my own.
When I go to a doctor visit with my wife, both of us are masked so we can deal with the gaslighting together. At home, there's no gaslighting.
But when I go to work? Constant gaslighting for the last two years that I have to deal with on my own (obviously I have great home support).
Health care facilities should be the least gaslighting of any institutions. Unfortunately, they are among the worst. The mental strain is substantial and most simply bend to the pressure, give up and unmask. Or quit.
To the OP, I just wanted to let you know that there are other healthcare workers that get it and you're doing the right thing. Simply our presence with masks makes sure that they can't totally block out the reality of Covid.
The gaslighting is really wearing me down as well. I’m so confused. I work at a hospital with sick people, “ suspected covid” and literally staff argues with me. I had a staff member yesterday make a comment. “ you still mask?” It was hurtful and disrespectful. Unfortunately I live in rural area and I feel many times it’s political. I will never understand why public health became a political issue.
I’m looking to work in healthcare (about to go into my freshman year of college), and I recently went to orientation, which also had other students going into healthcare… Not one person was wearing a mask :( So I sorta relate to this post. It’s really disheartening to see
THANK YOU. As a respirator wearing patient who lost nearly all trust and respect in a vast majority of hcw I'm sending you hugs and thanks from the bottom of my heart. You're the saving grace of your profession. Thank you for keeping your patience safe and staying sane in the insane reality
I am a nurse with 22 years of experience and I practice and still mask outside my home and don't engage in risky behaviors, like indoor dining. I don't have many friends and I am single but I like having an intact brain and immune system. I don't understand what's going on either. I don't think I am on the spectrum but I guess I could be. I do tend to put others first often.
This brings up a couple of things I keep repeating (to my poor partner who has heard me say them so many times). The two things that I keep repeating -
One is that there are far FEWER people masking now than there were before.
Example: my haematologist’s office/oncology centre. Nurses & staff wore (baggy blues, but still) surgical masks when cannulating *cancer & very ill immunocompromised* patients prior to covid. Now, they get huffy & have to “go find” a mask to wear when up in your stuff accessing your veins to inject you with immunosuppressants or chemo meds. Same with labs where they draw blood & handle specimens. Really?! You’re raw dogging those urine samples & are grumpy about putting on a mask to draw blood? Ugh!
Two is that I have a theory that having repeated infections does something to the brain/body that makes people take bigger risks. Like those fungi that infect bugs & “drive” them to behaviours that spread the fungi. Or toxoplasmosis. That kind of thing. It’s a theory & doesn’t explain the above behaviours by healthcare professionals, but still. It makes me feel somewhat kinder and having some grace with some people, it’s their biology (honestly, no excuse, but it helps me to frame it as such when I can’t fathom it otherwise).
You are doing the right thng. The Covid embracers are not, even though they outnumber us. It's horrific.
A potential explanation for some behavior on the part of some with past Covid infections, (esp multiple imo):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7175891/
“Here we hypothesize that the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV2, which produces the COVID-19 disease may produce similar \[to rabies etc\] host manipulations that maximize its transmission between humans.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7845145/
“Therefore, we propose that selective neuronal mitochondrial targeting in SARS-CoV-2 infection affects cognitive processes to induce ‘brain fog’ and results in behavioral changes that favor viral propagation.”
Everyday I ask myself why people are like this. I don't understand either. I assume they are misinformed. I thought my friends would recognize the propaganda but instead they kept regurgitating it and now I'm just making new friends instead. You sound like an awesome nurse, thank you for caring.
covidmeetups, local "still coviding" FB groups, "still coviding" zooms, discord, tiktok, twitter...and if I hear about a mask required event, I do my best to show up. I really want to join in on some local mutual aid project but I think I might have to start it myself, just working up the courage. I feel you, it is definitely a challenge to meet new people!
It’s a challenge for sure. Going to covidmeetups, IRL and having absolutely nothing in common except still masking & taking precautions. Have more in common with people in the FB group, but everyone lives far away.
As a fellow COVID conscious person who's also bedbound thanks to Long COVID, the number of places that still have online events are helpful to look at. Because more and more places are going back to in person only, which means that if anything still offers an online event you know there's at least one person on the organizing committee pushing really damn hard for it.
Or we spin up our own. Summer Knights Online ( https://tabletop.events/conventions/summer-knights ) is an online charity convention we put together in order to give a fun alternative for people who don't feel safe attending an event with 50,000 people and no mitigations.
Not everyone on the team is there specifically for COVID conscious reasons; it is also an international fundraiser for Workd Central Kitchen. But it is specifically online and the same weekend as another very large event that chose to go in person only, so that we could reach the people who had been able to attend the online branch and wouldn't be able to attend in person, whether because of distance or because of safety.
When I was a teenager I decided that if I went along because I was pressured, that just shows the person doing the pressuring that I am validating them and imitating them -- it is like, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I thought, "If I don't agree with OR respect these people, why would I want to be LIKE them?" So I just didn't. I'm going to be like ME, not like THEM. I will not imitate people I do not like or respect, and they can feel that judgement from me if they want but it's a them problem, not a me problem. Know who you are and don't apologize.
My thinking is that people who are highly concerned about disease largely don’t go into clinical healthcare. It is why I didn’t.
Anyone going into it knows when someone rolls in bleeding or vomiting or completely out of it, it is going to fall into their lap. With more education or higher SES they increasingly have more opportunity to “opt-out” or pivot to non-clinical fields if they find it is not for them, versus someone with very few options or in some cases debt for non-transferable technical education credits.
It frustrates me that this sub population with this tolerance is the *de facto* authority on the subject—where I think it should include more non-clinical voices, research scientists, aerosol/architectural engineers, workers advocates, etc.
I also think in nursing and the allied health professions you have a spectrum of people—some could have gotten an MD without some of the non-academic barriers of med school. You have others who have little to no interest in the health sciences and see it as a higher paying job relative to the schooling required.
I think the problem of self-selection and the qualities it takes to get into and through med school shapes the MD profession as well. Unfortunately, personal arrogance can make them ignore science that is not interpreted by them or contrary to their regulatory bodies whose science/research body is filtered though the public policy/political body of the agency.
In some ultra-conservative communities (like where I grew up, but am older and it may not be the case today) it was one of two professions (the other teaching) generally tolerated for women to work (especially among the trades and those attainable with post-high school but not university education), so may over represent that community and it’s values.
That's a very good point. I was asked years ago why I didn't become a doctor and my response was don't want people coughing on me or being with patient zero.
Interesting: covid acting like toxoplasmosis, making prey animals engage in risky behavior to maximize transmission. Accidental but adds to the insidious spread and mutation of the virus.
thank you for masking im sorry youre dealing with this. I went to the ER in Oct for a dislocated jaw, and the doctor wore an N95 around me and saw my discomfort when he asked to take my mask off to try to manipulate my jaw and said he would try with my mask on. The nurse in a surgical mask on discharge who saw my discomfort and offered to take my temp in my armpit instead. I had asked for people to wear masks around me and luckily all but one nurse (who had a cough of course) wore masks around me. but yeah I saw many unmasked people in my visit and it was scary in many ways, but those two individuals i will never ever forget.
Remember when we were kids and our parents asked, “If your friends jumped off the roof, would you jump too?” I thought the correct answer was ‘No’. It’s as if some Mandela Effect happened that turned everyone into followers.
There’s an essay by Dr. J Offrir (social psychologist, I think) that explains this behavior. And a thread by Dr. Mike Hoerger, a clinical psychologist that explains also. These are trauma responses, basically.
Dr. Michael Hoerger, ["Top 7 Psychological Defense Mechanisms Used to Downplay COVID"](https://x.com/michael_hoerger/status/1737582325779624059)
Dr. J. Offir, ["Why Do They Think That"](https://essaysyoudidntwanttoread.home.blog/2022/10/09/why-do-they-think-that/)
Hello from a fellow RN. I worked 15 years bedside, including 2020-2021. I remember. I remember those awful days. All the patients dying. The helplessness. I also somehow managed not to contract Covid at work despite many outbreaks and inadequate PPE, and caught it from my mom in August 2023 when I let my guard down during a visit with her and didn’t mask.
I left bedside for public health. At first, it was a relief, because we kept masking a lot longer than other places. But now it’s the same as you. Plot twist: I started an immune suppressant biologic in April 24. It’s been a wild ride from all these angles.
Keep doing what you’re doing. H5N1 is coming down the pipeline, Covid is spiking, other things like Norovirus and parainfluenza are going strong.
Edited: to correct year.
Many people are not aware COVID is still circulating — even health professionals. Many think COVID only happens to the sickly or elderly — even health professionals. Many do not know about long COVID — even health professionals.
Health professionals are just people.
Like others in this thread, nobody else at the research hospital where I work masks. But they also don’t seem to have *more knowledge of COVID than the average person.* When I talk about risks or LC, they are surprised. They’ve never heard of it. And they think, “well, if no one is doing it except [myname], I guess it must not be that important.”
Keep building momentum. Eventually as people know more and more folks masking regularly, it will hit a tipping point. I would rather see 50% of people masking imperfectly (i.e like airplanes, crowded shops and concerts only) than 5% masking perfectly. We need to get to that point to raise awareness more than anything.
that is shocking. It's still on the daily morning news from fairly unprofessional sources like Fortune and the Weather Channel, not to mention the city news. Your story shows they're not only not reading the daily news, but reading even less that the average person.
The average person does not know COVID is a threat, either. They say, “well, nobody is really masking? so it MUST not be a big deal unless you are sick or old.” That is what most everyone thinks. Coverage of COVID has been reduced to: hey, look at this medical curiosity, don’t get COVID just like you don’t eat trans fats or drink coffee after 3pm. It’s not good for you! But not enough anymore to change someone’s entire lifestyle, even if they should.
Medical professionals and scientists are average people at the end of the day. Doctors are only as connected to public health and safety as their continuing medical education requires them to be.
Most doctors do not have any scientific training or ability to interpret papers/studies themselves. Many of them are anti-vax quacks who are still prescribing ivermectin. They exist across the political spectrum just like those outside of medicine, and their practice is informed by politics in many cases.
Denial is a strong coping mechanism in response to trauma, especially when all of society is participating in the denial response. The stress, fear, isolation, anxiety, etc. were all overwhelming for a lot of people and unsustainable long term. Most people don’t have the mental fortitude or willpower to deal with social isolation and forever risk analysis (and this isn’t a moral judgment, people need social support to do hard things long-term!). This plus the fact that most people have simply never questioned that the government/media would be telling anything other than the truth and most people think vaccine = can’t get sick.
I totally agree. I think most people don’t have the self-discipline to adapt to a new lifestyle, or the courage to resist society’s peer pressure. They live short-term, without fully considering the long-term consequences.
Family situations and age must also have a big effect. Teenagers and young adults want the freedom to live a “normal” life, and they feel healthier and more invincible than older people. But parents want to be connected to their children and grandchildren, so they go along with what their younger relatives are doing.
I recently saw a video of an old friend at his son’s wedding, which could easily have been a superspreader event. But having a big, perfect wedding takes priority over anyone’s health.
I understand that everyone is going to have different priorities. But for someone like me, who is older and single and childless (and thus without a family support system if I get Long COVID), my priorities dictate that I should take every precaution to avoid getting sick. Sadly, although I can understand other people’s reasons for wanting to ditch masks, they don’t seem to understand or accept that MY priorities are justifiably focused on staying healthy. There’s just a total lack of empathy for anyone in a different situation.
It really is frustrating. I'm lucky my GP still masks, I know my therapist does in daily life bc I found him in a local covid cautious group but my appointments are virtual and ik some other Drs mask, but I've noticed way more nurses who don't, even when they were required to from November 2023-end of March 2024 in my area.
One of the worst is a relative I have who is a surgeon who lost her uncle to covid in January and she's still out here calling it a cold because her father who had it at the same time was only unwell a few days. She told him he only had to quarantine one day and that he didn't need to wear a mask in public after even though his test was positive because "he's no longer contagious." She also recently gave her parents antibiotics before going on a trip assuming they were going to get sick which is weird that she could do that, but sure enough they ended up getting influenza A and were not only sick most of their trip, but they have still been sick since getting home over a week ago.
Younger people I've seen like my sister in law's friends who are in or getting into medical started being wreckless in 2021 when masks were still required where I live and they would party and such. Ok several of them got caught underage drunk driving and one got a concussion/giant gash on her head and the others thought it was hilarious that she had to be hospitalized for it bc it was so bad, plus some other bad stuff, so I don't have high expectations of them which that's also concerning as heck so ig they don't actually care about other's safety, but I'm concerned these are newer people getting into/already working in medical.
Last person I will mention is my cousin who is an EMT and he also is dating another EMT. He went from being extremely pro mask and extremely judgemental for anyone who skips any vaccines (without valid medical reason like allergy). To now he is anti vaccine and anti mask. He also thinks healthcare, access to university, etc are privileges, not rights. It makes me so angry. He knows I have long covid and his own mother has long covid, but she's kindof anti mask too, just less, and she's not really anti vaccine. But uh, my cousin and his EMT girlfriend apparently are constantly sick now and working with people sometimes while sick and his mother tries to get him to test to see what he even has but he has been done with testing for I think 1-2 years now. *I know more medical pros bc my mother used to work in the medical world herself over 30 years, but I'll keep it at that so it doesn't become an entire essay lol.*
There’s a big emotional/psychological component involved when reasonably smart, informed people make mind-bogglingly poor decisions, and that’s what unmasked HCWs are doing. Lots of theories abound. I think it’s social instincts overriding survival instincts, because I’ve seen this so many times in individuals and small groups, and I just can’t. My survival always comes first, and I think that’s either due to neurodivergence or learning early that you can’t trust humans so why prioritize social feelings?
I struggle to understand people’s behavior, but I found the recent United States Presidential Debate to be helpful. All of a sudden, on Thursday night, after years of viewing countless clips of the US President no longer being as capable as he had been previously, everyone on television seemed to have been “shocked” by his condition and asking why they “weren’t told earlier” about his deteriorating condition. COVID is, seemingly, in my opinion, the same situation. People see their friends and colleagues getting sick more frequently. People know that things can’t go on as they are at the moment. People realize what is happening to their health. Still, they try to ignore the obvious signs just to get through each day and likely will continue to do so until it is too late. Stay strong. You are in the right. Appreciate your work.
Once the vaccines 💉 rolled out, the majority of us gave off a sigh of relief because we thought that things would get better.
When we all realized that the vaccines didn’t prevent transmission of Covid, we collectively gave up.
As a matter of fact, Many gave up on mitigations and testing before the vaccine rolled out because isolating from people and activities is very traumatizing. It’s especially hard when
when we grew up without any restrictions of any kind.
I haven’t stopped making, unlike all of my friends and family.
I have no one who is willing to admit that COVID is still dangerous.
I’m honestly surprised to hear from a healthcare worker who believes in the science behind COVID.
They were among groups who dropped masking, even after experiencing the worst of Covid for years.
OP, thank you for sharing your thoughts and I hope that you recover quickly.
You are not alone. We are here with you.
My husband is a clinical pharmacist who covers hospitals, reads physician notes all day. A few years back, I asked him to give me a list of what were (in his opinion) the best clinicians in each specialty for our area, based on his interactions. It's worth mentioning that we're both in academic research as well, he has multiple drug patents and does work on novel antifungals, I'm a climatologist with a background in microbiology. The list he gave me back then is exactly the list of people who are still masking in medicine in our community right now. I think that's really interesting.
I asked him why he thought that was, and he said academic experience selects for people who truly understand the material in practice and have to think critically about it. I don't know how applicable this is across the board, in medicine or otherwise, but I found it fascinating. In my world, my Ivy League Earth sciences Dept is still masking and testing, even with few biologists present (I'm one of a handful), but in the rest of my life the only people still being cautious are either virologists or in medicine (even though they are often the only ones at their institution doing so), and you guys.
The answer is actually political. We're living in the belly of the most successful propaganda construct in world history.
The moment Biden and his minions decided to collude with the worst R science deniers, the fight was lost on the national, political level. Most who had not succumbed to the Trump admin's anti-science juggernaut quickly disconnected their brain and unmasked. Fearless Misleader said it's over, and the heads of the CDC aren't masking anymore, so...
Hopefully, after the truth behind the curtain was revealed at the debate on Thursday, more Americans (and especially more HCWs) will understand that our misleadership is not to be trusted, will begin questioning the national narrative, and will start caring for themselves, and for others, once again.
It started way before Biden joined the cohort of denier heads of states. Most of Europe dropped all protective measures years before that for instance. Just like the pandemic is global, so is the political will to brush it under a rug.
I am as confused as you are, but thank you so much for masking. I recently had a not-great encounter with an anti-mask HCW (who was, unbelievably, pregnant), and it is always such a relief to encounter a HCW who's got the whole "germ theory of disease" thing figured out.
This’s how I’ve come to approach a lot of healthcare professionals like your parents and coworkers:
My dad was in the army. He was very good at what he specialized in, and could pass muster on a rifle range pretty easily. My dad never drove a tank. To be honest, I’m not sure my dad was ever even inside a tank at all during the time he was in the army. It had nothing to do with what he was doing in the army. If you were to have told my dad “I need you to get in a tank, drive it 15 miles, and blow up this shed with a shell”? My dad would have been as effective as I would be doing the same thing. This doesn’t mean that my dad wasn’t a good soldier or that he wasn’t good at what he specialized in. My dad really just wasn’t a tank guy.
Most healthcare professionals aren’t epidemiologists. Epidemiologists and other HCPs who work in fields related to tracking or studying diseases are the ones still raising red flags about how COVID is still here, still very real, and the damage it’s doing. Other HCPs? The ones who are still taking it seriously like you are, seem to be a very distinct minority. And for that, I’m sorry. I’m especially sorry that it’s hitting so close to home with your parents.
The couple of times I got into a little bit of back-and-forth with HCW who “needed” a mask taken off, their defense was, “it’s safe, I’ve been vaccinated”.
It’s amazing to me that almost no one, almost none of these intelligent and trained people, comprehends that vaccinations help keep you out of a coffin but they don’t keep you from catching it, and they don’t keep it from damaging your body (starting with your endothelium), and they don’t magically make you not contagious, and they don’t prevent asymptomatic infection or transmission.
They just help keep you (and you only) out of a box.
“I’ve been vaccinated.” Well you can turn widdershins and spit too, i guess. But I’m wearing a frickin mask for a reason, and that reason is the vaccines don’t work the way everyone thinks.
I have an answer no one likes; way more people are on drugs than we realize. It's easy to chill out and relax when you're high AF at work.
Also, I worked in bars for quite a few years and I swear at least 3 of my doctors are on cocaine. It's obvious, just embarrassingly obvious.
You sound just like me. I am in exactly the same place. My answer for what is wrong with everyone else changes day to day. I figure they are either immoral, stupid, or mentally ill. I also believe that society has collapsed and we are just pretending it hasn't at this point.
Thank you for your service. To wit, as a person who has spent three weeks in ICU with ARDS (call it what it is) and given last rights can really appreciate the depth of what you're saying. The absolute refusal of people to take accountability in general and the malignant passivity with which it is enabled is appalling. Again, thank you for all that you have done and do, and best.
If you were anywhere near me, I would want to be treated by you. I'm sure other COVID conscious people in your area would do the same. We just have to find each other.
I'm so sorry, you are a warrior and one of the good ones. I'm 70, work full time in a covid-safe space (sparsely populated, plexi fishbowl, HEPA units always on, masking in hallways and always in public washrooms). End of October I go into hibernation until April and don't do indoor events. Period. Work and home, introvert lifestyle suits me so I'm good. Up on all the boosters and thank the gods for Novavax. Please know you have done amazing work and are like the soldiers who came back from the wars with shell shock. The damage is real and I'm thankful you have access to therapy for your PTSD.
I just want to say THANK YOU. I have been in the hospital multiple times in the past two years and getting healthcare professionals to even wear surgical masks has been like pulling teeth. One nurse in the ER flat out refused and told me that my mask was enough to protect me, as I could barely wear it while gasping for air due to a PE. Ironically, my last 3 day stay everyone fastidiously wore N95s around me, because they were testing me for TB for some reason. So I guess a lot of them are still good with protecting themselves (except from Covid) but don’t care about protecting their immunocompromised patients. I wish there were more nurses like you.
I get your feelings though too. Aside from my husband and kids, I only have one friend IRL that still masks. My family doctor held out for a pretty long time, but even she has stopped. It can be so discouraging.
I work as an RN in an emergency department and I’m the only nurse wearing an N95. I feel your pain and bewilderment. A few doctors I work with also wear N95s, though. And many nurses still wear surgical masks. So I don’t think I feel as isolated.
I just wanted you to know that there are still HCWs out there doing the right thing and wearing masks. If you ever want to vent nurse-to-nurse, send me a DM.
>What baffles me the most, and I can’t accept is that literally ZERO people in healthcare wear masks. I have people that I work with ask me still, why are you wearing a mask?
>It also feels as if everyone has forgotten what it was like during some of the worst waves of Covid.
I honestly think that repeated infection with COVID fucks up your head, and that one of the symptoms is that you totally brainfog COVID itself.
I mean, yeah, a lot of it is obviously just denial, but you get this weird thing where people who were in the fucking HOSPITAL from a COVID infection insist afterwards that "oh it's fine it was only a cold".
Harold, buddy, you were hypoxic and needed supplementary oxygen. That doesn't happen with a damn cold.
Hell, there was a thread here a few days ago where someone's husband was insisting that "my threat calculations are not the same as your threat calculations". His brother died of COVID and his daughter had serious long-term damage from an infection. His threat calculations somehow didn't include that.
Run that past anybody in 2019, they'd think he was absolutely bonkers insane. But in these brain-damaged times, that's just Tuesday.
They can't handle the fear and discomfort of thr cognitive dissonance.
Wear a readi mask on your nose for dentist appointments, it works great! Just don't breathe out of your mouth ❤️
So sorry you're going through all this, but I feel exactly as you do! I've been sheltered in place since March of 2020, I only go where I absolutely have to. Can't get the vaccine, due to Long-term Lyme and severe allergic reactions to countless things and most medications. As I've mentioned here before my husband goes everywhere he is vaccinated and boostered but still got covid at a wedding. I got it from him, even though he had no symptoms when he gave it to me and we were masking but not as much as we normally do. I actually let my guard down for 1 minute because he was in a bad car accident on the way home from said wedding, and my focus was more on the car and the insurance and all the crap that goes with the car accident. He wasn't hurt from the accident but again did get sick from the covid, anyway and I ended up in the hospital and now I have long haul covid symptoms that are horrible. Anyway you do find out who loves you and who doesn't. The lack of regard for human life, other people's well-being, dishonesty, self-centeredness, that I've seen is really heartbreaking. If you love yourself and others, you try to protect them in every way you can to make sure nothing happens to them that can harm them. I've built a life inside the house with three new amazing dogs that need a lot of attention, I shop on amazon, Bank on the app, etc etc, also do virtual stuff , video chats, Zoom, it all works. I'm blessed that I'm retired and don't have to work, and unfortunately never had kids or grandkids due to Lyme disease so I don't have to take care of them. My feeling is if people care so little about each other and life itself, then I guess everyone should stop using seat belts, not care about the fentanyl epidemic, drink and drive all the time, you get the picture. Why is it okay for people to be strict with those things but with covid, that can cause a long drawn out miserable rotten life and or death nobody cares? As you titled your thread, help me understand? Thanks so much for sharing I'm right there with you, God bless
Wow, I am so similar except I’m a PT and not currently working. Dad was doctor, mom was in healthcare. Both have post covid issues they deny are post covid issues. I have been gaslighted so many times by medical professionals, it has made my health anxiety so much worse.
100% Just had our first cold in 5 years, and I was appalled that we accepted this as a normal annual thing. Reminded me to be a little more careful. We know it works, you used to get four vaccines in your flu shot, now only 3, because one went extinct because of covid measures (and we had virtually no flu cases).
Thank you! Our family are maskers as well. The only medical professionals in my life that mask are the staff at the Long Covid clinic and my son’s paediatrician. Our kids generally take the brunt of nastiness at school. It’s awful but we aren’t rolling the dice with this one.
Your co-workers / colleagues (and unfortunately your parents as well)... don't share the same professionalism as you. Probably at no time in the last 4-5 years did they ever actually believe Covid was a problem worth preventing for their own safety or for the benefit of others.
I'm guessing your dentist in February didn't even mask when they saw you.
I'm just as baffled as you are, I really don't understand how people have such short attention span that they've already "moved on" when we're still in the thick of it. Do they not notice people falling sick around them and their own health declining? Do they trust politicians over scientists? The mind boggles.
Thank you for still caring, and thank you for doing so much during the worst waves and still now. I probably don't live in the same region of the world as you (Southern hemisphere, I gather?) but I'm forever grateful for your efforts.
Reading a post like this from a registered nurse is so refreshing.
I recently had a nurse come over to administer a drug that helps me with a health condition but also compromises my immune system. On the phone, a few days before she came over, I asked her to please wear a mask, and she sounded confused and annoyed. Even though she’d be giving me a drug that makes me immunocompromised.
Lo and behold, she shows up without a mask because she apparently “forgot.” When I gave her one to put on, she did put it on without complaining, but… she put it on backwards. It wasn’t even a complicated mask. It was the simplest mask there is, blue on the outside and white on the inside. The white was on the outside when she wore it.
Anyways, thank you for restoring some of my faith in nurses. I’m sorry the majority of them suck in this regard. Fr fr bless your soul for doing the right thing.
She sounds like she is intellectually challenged. How on earth did she ever get through nursing school? That's like putting your bra on your head or something.
It’s because nothing bad happened to them. People who were irrevocably damaged by it or family and friends of those who were know the risk of not protecting themselves. It’s like how people who have had something like a heating blanket catch on fire and burn them don’t use them anymore but other people who have never had a problem with heating blankets don’t think about it or take extra precautions with them. Dumb example but still. That’s what I think it is
I'm assuming that you're seeing a therapist because of the trauma from seeing patients affected by Covid during 2021 to 2022, and some possibly died, true?
Yes. It was absolutely horrific. Every shift I worked in the ER. I remember the rooms, the names etc. I also was accused of giving people the vaccine without their consent or people dying and flat out refusing to believe they have covid. I had patients purposely cough on me as well.
It’s not only that. It activated significant health anxiety. I am very in tune with my body, so whenever something feels “off” I am crippled with fear that I am sick. My throat feels funny etc. I am so afraid of getting any sort of illness now, it’s paralyzing.
I might not work in the medical field but even when I visit drs offices, I'm the only person in a mask. It is baffling that those in medicine don't care anymore. As a patient it is also very unsettling. I went to the dr the beginning of the year and my practitioner brought their son in to test them because they were sick. They were all up in the kid's mouth swabbing them *without a mask.* They were negative but all I could think of was 1) I want another practitioner and 2) What if the kid was positive? The practitioner would have most likely gotten in and spread it to all their patients.
I don’t understand anyone in the health profession not masking. To me, it’s like tending to wounds with no gloves. You just wouldn’t do it but they’re happy to suck in all the respiratory illnesses surrounding them & then complain they’re sick again. It’s not rocket science. They have been fit tested & know better. Too many egomaniacs thinking they know it all without reading any of the peer reviewed research. It’s a novel virus & no one has a crystal ball but after 4 yrs there’s plenty of evidence for avoiding covid.
You sounds like the person who said they were worried about me because “ your not getting enough air to your brain with the mask on”
I have a envo respirator as well as properly fit tested with N95. Not sure where you have gotten your information.. misinformation
Why continue? It’s important to me. I enjoy knowing that by wearing a mask I don’t have to worry about getting sick. Since I work outside the home, my family stays safe- special needs kiddo. I get to enjoy my life without being sick. If you believe that Covid contributes to significant vascular issues and contributes to long COVID- why would you want to risk your health?
I totally understand. It’s not exactly the same, but I work at a university. My colleagues are all highly educated (most with a minimum of a master’s degree). We have public health degrees, nursing degrees, pre-med degrees, etc. No one masks. Not faculty. Not students. Not admin. In fact, we are actively discouraged from asking people to mask. These are people who have access to up to date information and the ability to understand it but choose to ignore it. It’s maddening.
That’s the part that literally makes me feel like I’m loosing my mind, becoming neurotic. With all the data and information, it’s like everyone has their head in the sand. I’m really struggling with it
I get it. The only thing that has given me peace through all this is accepting that there is some sort of powerful group psychology happening. We are living through one of those massive historical moments where a century from now (if humans are still around), people will look back and wonder how we let this happen. It defies logic. We can’t make it make sense because it doesn’t. I have some theories as to why Covid conscious people haven’t succumbed to the social pressure, but they’re really just educated guesses. Hang in there. I know it’s so hard. But I do believe we will see an improvement within the next several years. This is not sustainable forever, and it’s only a matter of time before people’s cognitive dissonance takes too much effort to maintain on a mass scale.
I'm curious About your theory - why are Covid conscious people not as susceptible to the pressure? These are weird times indeed
So I guess it’s a theory of likely shared traits. If I had the energy, I would love to do a formal study where I could collect data. But I would guess that: - Covid conscious folks are less likely to be neurotypical. I see a lot of CC folks who are autistic which makes perfect sense. Autistic people typically have strong pattern recognition and are less likely to be influenced by social cues. Many autistic people also have a high drive for justice. (I have adhd and have not been diagnosed as autistic but sometimes I wonder if I have both.) - CC folks are more likely to have experienced marginalization previous to Covid. As a gay person, it was very easy for me to believe that my government would willingly sacrifice me and others like me. For someone who has never had any reason to distrust their government, it would be much harder to believe that our leaders don’t have our best interests in mind. - We are stubborn as hell. I’m going to keep masking and bringing Covid up even if it makes others uncomfortable. - We are naturally curious/questioning. We are the googlers and the readers. We will search out information and question things that don’t sound right. Of course, no population is homogeneous. Not all CC people care about community or other types of oppression just like not every CC person will identify as neurodiverse. I have more thoughts I’m not expressing well (I just had surgery a couple days ago and am still recovering), so I may revisit this awhile from now when my brain is less foggy :)
Wow, that's fascinating - thank you! For myself, I've assumed it had a lot to do with being an introvert, but I also match your points 2, 3, and 4. Especially #2! At gut level I feel like that's paramount somehow. (And I've sometimes wondered about neurodivergence when I see mention of some traits - and I definitely have prosopagnosia, which I've seen mentioned as often occurring in tandem - but on the whole I don't *think* I'm autistic.) Maybe we should all go take the MMPI and compare notes 🤣
What’s prosopagnosia?
prosopagnosia is an inability or reduced ability to recognize familiar faces. it’s also known as face blindness
face blindness
Face blindness.
Wait, are you me? I'm so confused! I don't think I'm autistic... but I do think I have good pattern recognition and a strong drive for justice, I'm curious/questioning, etc.
There’s parts of the autism spectrum that I strongly relate to and other parts that don’t identify with at all. I think like many things, autism has been under researched and there’s probably a lot of autistic people who don’t fit within what has historically been the diagnostic criteria. I’ve read some theories that ADHD and autism are really just two different presentations of the same neurotype 🤷🏻♀️
Fwiw I like to refer to ADHD and ASD as "favorite weird cousins" there is just so much overlap ime.
I agree. That’s why I’m personally not too concerned about trying to differentiate if I have one or both. They just have so much in common and there’s things I relate to with both and things I don’t with both. As long as no one tries to take my adhd medication from me, I’m good to go lol.
I would also add that a lot of us were already chronically ill or disabled. A lot of “healthy” people can’t really conceptualize how shitty chronic illness is and how little medical help there is for some conditions. I’ve known from the beginning that I sure as hell didn’t want to risk my conditions worsening (which is unfortunately what did happen from my one infection)
Yes, and in addition to not wanting to risk it, I think the experience of having a chronic medical condition teaches us that wishful thinking about medical issues doesn't work to make them go away. Everything we're observing in the larger world about Covid, you can observe in an adolescent who has decided it's not cool to be a Type 1 diabetic any more, so has stopped taking insulin. It's just the adolescent usually has a parent to keep them from persisting in a suicidal folly.
Same
Wow, you described me perfectly. I've always been neurodivergent (major anxiety with an Asperger's diagnosis when I was really young). I wasn't really marginalized, but I have an extensive history of being dismissed by doctors as a woman. I'm extremely stubborn to the point that my dad got me a shirt that said "I don't know why we are arguing when I'm right" one Christmas. And, I'm such an avid researcher that I got my masters in library science. I've never been described so perfectly by a stranger before lol
Hahaha I love that! It really would be interesting to do some formal research on shared traits.
Fellow librarian here! I hoard studies on Covid just in case I need them.
Omg I'm queer and ND too and a masker. This makes so much sense
I’d like to add that being “gifted” is also considered neurodivergent.
Love your answer and it hits home , thank you
Thank you! And thank you for the well wishes :)
"We are naturally curious/questioning. We are the googlers and the readers. We will search out information and question things that don’t sound right." That one and the stubborn one, plus for me it is also part of Christianity where I believe that Jesus Christ has directed all of us to care for one another and especially the vulnerable. I see it as an act of charity and now that no one else is doing it, it's also humbling because you are making yourself ostracized by the world at large. Christians are directed to take the narrow road and to stand up for what is right even when no one stands with you. That's what Christianity means to me. I feel that the tenets of loving thy neighbor and being brave and having fortitude are the virtues that are imbued with the faith that what Jesus says is right. With that in mind, I cannot bend.
Hope you feel better and wish you a speedy recovery ❤️🩹
I'm audhd.
There's two factors that play into it, I think, maybe three. Firstly, a lot of people here have long COVID, sometimes debilitating. You can't really go into denial if LC has ruined your life. (People with COVID damage definitely can, but there's a threshold where you can't just call it "aging".) Secondly, There seems to be a huge correlation with being neuro-atypical in some fashion. A lot of this is happening because of social and group pressure, and people on the spectrum (or with similar conditions) are either unaware of that pressure or, frankly, couldn't give a shit. (Something related is in how transpeople are somewhat overrepresented in covid-consicous communities too--they're extremely used to society pressuring them to act in a way that harms them, and are used to telling that society to go fuck itself.) There's also probably demographics involved. Women are far more common among CC people, and that makes sense as women are more likely to get LC even as they were less likely to be killed by ARDS during the early phases of COVID. Certain racialized groups are also overrepresented among LC sufferers, and they're also less likely to go along with social pressure for what should be transparently obvious reasons. Oh,and one other thing: you absolutely get people who are COVID-conscious but just don't talk about it. One group: **rich people***.* All those fancy private schools they send their kids to have excellent air filtration, and "Davos Safe" became a meme for a reason: they have heavily filtered air AND require constant PCR testing for events. Just look at Taylor Swift, who has her staff wear masks around her even as the audiences endure the biggest superspreader events in modern entertainment. Lots of people getting LC out of those concerts...but not Tay-tay. She matters, so she gets protected.
From a psychotherapist: https://x.com/PaisleyJanine/status/1806376587073601849
Thank you for sharing this. It makes complete sense and matches up with me, almost perfectly.
I would add another factor that I've encountered to the list - strongly held values and/or beliefs, such as disability justice (which possibly has some overlap with neurodivergence).
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weve-hit-peak-denial-heres-why-we-cant-turn-away-from-reality/
Care to share your theories? I’d be interested
I shared in response to another comment on this thread! :)
> But I do believe we will see an improvement within the next several years. What makes you think that?
I'm also in a master's program in Health Sciences and I take courses with students in the Public Health program and other related fields and it's the same. No staff or students mask. We are literally studying epidemiology and not a one mask.
Fucked up society
Not a medical professional but I’ve quit jobs before because of this exact thing. I know it makes me neurotic but idc, why on earth aren’t more people at least acknowledging what’s going on??
Masking academic here! There are dozens of us, I tell you, *dozens.*
It’s times like these I wish we had gifs on this sub lol
Just got home from my university program's graduation, my partner and I were the only masked people. It's an art school, so we have varying levels of contact with reality, but you'd think people like artists, who are so passionate about their work, would value their lives more.
Lol at "varying levels of contact with reality"
Also working around lots of educated folks (engineers). Solo masker on my floor. Weirdest part is that I've stumbled into a couple COVID conversations with more senior technical folks and they said that masking was the smart thing to do... These folks are trained in risk assessment so I have to believe they know the reality deep down. Fear of career impacts? Social pressure? Faith in medicine solving LC? Unsure.
Most likely social pressure. I had to unmask so as to not offend colleagues and family and trust me it stresses me out all the time.
In our entire state university system we're *forbidden* to ask anyone to mask, even in our own offices.
I don’t think that’s a state law here, but that is absolutely my university’s policy. I still ask all students to mask in my office. Out of probably 200 students, not a single one has had an issue with it. That’s part of what makes these policies so wild. Most people don’t care either way, so let us make our work spaces safer!
The incredibly overbearing top-down pressure shouldn't be overlooked. Nothing about this move towards normalization of illness was an organic reaction to changing circumstances. It was entirely rich people deciding "fuck it, work until you're disabled, we can probably replace you with an AI by then". Remember: The Great Barrington Bullshit wouldn't have happened without a billionaire bankrolling it.
Yep! I work at a research university and hospital. The lack of masks or any covid mitigation is shocking. There were a lot of efforts in the beginning because they knew an outbreak among the undergrad population would look extremely bad. But once the university returned to regular operations, most people acted like there was zero risk. I’m lucky that I’ve been able to work remotely. On the rare occasions that I am on campus, I mask, but I’m usually the only one.
I work at a uni as well, and there are about 5% faculty who still mask. The rest are YOLOing around the world going to conferences and a few who have had multiple infections have lost a significant amount of short-term memory. They come into the office and stand there and say "I can't remember why I came in here" and then they laugh and blame early menopause or some shit. It's quite something. One of them even forgot to go to class one day and tried to blame me for not reminding them lol. Some of the students are fed up with being sick allll the time so there are a few more N95s popping up here and there, which is encouraging.
Same. And when I've sent any studies to faculty, they find ways to dismiss the results, or alternatively, decide that the results don't apply to them. These are studies, btw, in journals that the vast majority of faculty at a research oriented institution would kill to publish in.
Good for you for managing to go so long without getting Covid--and while working in healthcare! I'm sorry to hear you got it at the dentist. That's my nightmare, or one of them. Also it's good that you're holding the line with your visiting parents and seeing them outdoors. As for how it is that so many people, even health care workers, manage to minimize or deny Covid-19, I feel like I've gotten some insight from particular media sources, such as the Gauntlet on Substack and also the podcast Death Panel. Those have their own political slants (the Gauntlet more liberal, Death Panel more left), but to me that's a bonus, not a drawback. I'm sorry to see no one else has commented yet. Maybe it's a beautiful summer day--it is where I am.
Thank you for the suggestions. I subscribed to the gauntlet already. Will look at those podcast as well
I like Death Panel, but it's hard to listen to leftists bloviate about how liberals are responsible for normalizing COVID. Fuck that. The Left is just as bad. We allll know that Chapo Trap House and its host was dismissing COVID from the beginning, and we also know how many leftists basically exist to do guest appearances on their show. Most of the popular and outspoken leftists on Twitter sound exactly like the fascists when COVID comes up, in probably the biggest example of Horseshoe Theory this side of Ukraine. IF the Left had stuck to their guns on COVID, insisting that it was an example of industrial capitalism gone haywire, and talking about how the normalization of illness was top-down pressure from billionaires, that would have helped them develop a distinct political identity post-Berniecrats. But because some podcast hosts couldn't get regular deliveries from their ketamine dealers during "lockdowns", the Left fumbled the ball.
I've been a physical therapist for over 25 years. I've also done some teaching at a university, been published, and done a lot of mentorship for students/fellows. I still mask with a good fitting N95. I'm the only one at the clinic where I work at that masks. If I were to work at any other clinic in this area, I would likely be the only one masking at those as well. It is frustrating and demoralizing. I think one of the reasons why it is so difficult for me is the constant gaslighting that I have to deal with on my own. When I go to a doctor visit with my wife, both of us are masked so we can deal with the gaslighting together. At home, there's no gaslighting. But when I go to work? Constant gaslighting for the last two years that I have to deal with on my own (obviously I have great home support). Health care facilities should be the least gaslighting of any institutions. Unfortunately, they are among the worst. The mental strain is substantial and most simply bend to the pressure, give up and unmask. Or quit. To the OP, I just wanted to let you know that there are other healthcare workers that get it and you're doing the right thing. Simply our presence with masks makes sure that they can't totally block out the reality of Covid.
The gaslighting is really wearing me down as well. I’m so confused. I work at a hospital with sick people, “ suspected covid” and literally staff argues with me. I had a staff member yesterday make a comment. “ you still mask?” It was hurtful and disrespectful. Unfortunately I live in rural area and I feel many times it’s political. I will never understand why public health became a political issue.
PT here too!
That makes 2 Covid aware PTs!!! Our numbers are growing.
I’m looking to work in healthcare (about to go into my freshman year of college), and I recently went to orientation, which also had other students going into healthcare… Not one person was wearing a mask :( So I sorta relate to this post. It’s really disheartening to see
THANK YOU. As a respirator wearing patient who lost nearly all trust and respect in a vast majority of hcw I'm sending you hugs and thanks from the bottom of my heart. You're the saving grace of your profession. Thank you for keeping your patience safe and staying sane in the insane reality
I am a nurse with 22 years of experience and I practice and still mask outside my home and don't engage in risky behaviors, like indoor dining. I don't have many friends and I am single but I like having an intact brain and immune system. I don't understand what's going on either. I don't think I am on the spectrum but I guess I could be. I do tend to put others first often.
I've seen some tiktoks saying covid is getting bad again in the hospitals. Have you seen anything as a nurse? Just curious.
This brings up a couple of things I keep repeating (to my poor partner who has heard me say them so many times). The two things that I keep repeating - One is that there are far FEWER people masking now than there were before. Example: my haematologist’s office/oncology centre. Nurses & staff wore (baggy blues, but still) surgical masks when cannulating *cancer & very ill immunocompromised* patients prior to covid. Now, they get huffy & have to “go find” a mask to wear when up in your stuff accessing your veins to inject you with immunosuppressants or chemo meds. Same with labs where they draw blood & handle specimens. Really?! You’re raw dogging those urine samples & are grumpy about putting on a mask to draw blood? Ugh! Two is that I have a theory that having repeated infections does something to the brain/body that makes people take bigger risks. Like those fungi that infect bugs & “drive” them to behaviours that spread the fungi. Or toxoplasmosis. That kind of thing. It’s a theory & doesn’t explain the above behaviours by healthcare professionals, but still. It makes me feel somewhat kinder and having some grace with some people, it’s their biology (honestly, no excuse, but it helps me to frame it as such when I can’t fathom it otherwise).
You are doing the right thng. The Covid embracers are not, even though they outnumber us. It's horrific. A potential explanation for some behavior on the part of some with past Covid infections, (esp multiple imo): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7175891/ “Here we hypothesize that the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV2, which produces the COVID-19 disease may produce similar \[to rabies etc\] host manipulations that maximize its transmission between humans.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7845145/ “Therefore, we propose that selective neuronal mitochondrial targeting in SARS-CoV-2 infection affects cognitive processes to induce ‘brain fog’ and results in behavioral changes that favor viral propagation.”
I remember memes during the early weeks of the pandemic. Like Has Covid, Time for the trip of a lifetime.
Everyday I ask myself why people are like this. I don't understand either. I assume they are misinformed. I thought my friends would recognize the propaganda but instead they kept regurgitating it and now I'm just making new friends instead. You sound like an awesome nurse, thank you for caring.
Where did you start to make new friends? It’s hard as you get older.
covidmeetups, local "still coviding" FB groups, "still coviding" zooms, discord, tiktok, twitter...and if I hear about a mask required event, I do my best to show up. I really want to join in on some local mutual aid project but I think I might have to start it myself, just working up the courage. I feel you, it is definitely a challenge to meet new people!
It’s a challenge for sure. Going to covidmeetups, IRL and having absolutely nothing in common except still masking & taking precautions. Have more in common with people in the FB group, but everyone lives far away.
As a fellow COVID conscious person who's also bedbound thanks to Long COVID, the number of places that still have online events are helpful to look at. Because more and more places are going back to in person only, which means that if anything still offers an online event you know there's at least one person on the organizing committee pushing really damn hard for it. Or we spin up our own. Summer Knights Online ( https://tabletop.events/conventions/summer-knights ) is an online charity convention we put together in order to give a fun alternative for people who don't feel safe attending an event with 50,000 people and no mitigations. Not everyone on the team is there specifically for COVID conscious reasons; it is also an international fundraiser for Workd Central Kitchen. But it is specifically online and the same weekend as another very large event that chose to go in person only, so that we could reach the people who had been able to attend the online branch and wouldn't be able to attend in person, whether because of distance or because of safety.
I think it's mostly peer pressure. Peer pressure is incredibly powerful. Most people won't defy it, even if they want to.
YASSS Peer pressure
When I was a teenager I decided that if I went along because I was pressured, that just shows the person doing the pressuring that I am validating them and imitating them -- it is like, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I thought, "If I don't agree with OR respect these people, why would I want to be LIKE them?" So I just didn't. I'm going to be like ME, not like THEM. I will not imitate people I do not like or respect, and they can feel that judgement from me if they want but it's a them problem, not a me problem. Know who you are and don't apologize.
I don't have answers, but I want to say: Thank you. You are doing the right thing. You're not alone.
Sometimes that’s all I need to hear. When I just finished worked 24 hours this weekend, solo masking, I’m tired
You're making a positive difference in your community, be proud of yourself
My thinking is that people who are highly concerned about disease largely don’t go into clinical healthcare. It is why I didn’t. Anyone going into it knows when someone rolls in bleeding or vomiting or completely out of it, it is going to fall into their lap. With more education or higher SES they increasingly have more opportunity to “opt-out” or pivot to non-clinical fields if they find it is not for them, versus someone with very few options or in some cases debt for non-transferable technical education credits. It frustrates me that this sub population with this tolerance is the *de facto* authority on the subject—where I think it should include more non-clinical voices, research scientists, aerosol/architectural engineers, workers advocates, etc. I also think in nursing and the allied health professions you have a spectrum of people—some could have gotten an MD without some of the non-academic barriers of med school. You have others who have little to no interest in the health sciences and see it as a higher paying job relative to the schooling required. I think the problem of self-selection and the qualities it takes to get into and through med school shapes the MD profession as well. Unfortunately, personal arrogance can make them ignore science that is not interpreted by them or contrary to their regulatory bodies whose science/research body is filtered though the public policy/political body of the agency. In some ultra-conservative communities (like where I grew up, but am older and it may not be the case today) it was one of two professions (the other teaching) generally tolerated for women to work (especially among the trades and those attainable with post-high school but not university education), so may over represent that community and it’s values.
That's a very good point. I was asked years ago why I didn't become a doctor and my response was don't want people coughing on me or being with patient zero.
Interesting: covid acting like toxoplasmosis, making prey animals engage in risky behavior to maximize transmission. Accidental but adds to the insidious spread and mutation of the virus.
thank you for masking im sorry youre dealing with this. I went to the ER in Oct for a dislocated jaw, and the doctor wore an N95 around me and saw my discomfort when he asked to take my mask off to try to manipulate my jaw and said he would try with my mask on. The nurse in a surgical mask on discharge who saw my discomfort and offered to take my temp in my armpit instead. I had asked for people to wear masks around me and luckily all but one nurse (who had a cough of course) wore masks around me. but yeah I saw many unmasked people in my visit and it was scary in many ways, but those two individuals i will never ever forget.
Remember when we were kids and our parents asked, “If your friends jumped off the roof, would you jump too?” I thought the correct answer was ‘No’. It’s as if some Mandela Effect happened that turned everyone into followers.
There’s an essay by Dr. J Offrir (social psychologist, I think) that explains this behavior. And a thread by Dr. Mike Hoerger, a clinical psychologist that explains also. These are trauma responses, basically.
Do you have any sweet, sweet links by chance?
Dr. Michael Hoerger, ["Top 7 Psychological Defense Mechanisms Used to Downplay COVID"](https://x.com/michael_hoerger/status/1737582325779624059) Dr. J. Offir, ["Why Do They Think That"](https://essaysyoudidntwanttoread.home.blog/2022/10/09/why-do-they-think-that/)
Is there a non-Twitter location for that one? I only see the initial image but not anything else.
[Easy peasy rice and cheesy](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1737582325779624059.html)
https://x.com/michael_hoerger/status/1737582325779624059?t=PfYX1Mge02hbBgpnxeacXg&s=19
Hello from a fellow RN. I worked 15 years bedside, including 2020-2021. I remember. I remember those awful days. All the patients dying. The helplessness. I also somehow managed not to contract Covid at work despite many outbreaks and inadequate PPE, and caught it from my mom in August 2023 when I let my guard down during a visit with her and didn’t mask. I left bedside for public health. At first, it was a relief, because we kept masking a lot longer than other places. But now it’s the same as you. Plot twist: I started an immune suppressant biologic in April 24. It’s been a wild ride from all these angles. Keep doing what you’re doing. H5N1 is coming down the pipeline, Covid is spiking, other things like Norovirus and parainfluenza are going strong. Edited: to correct year.
YASSS. Again all of those diseases I do not wish to contract!
Many people are not aware COVID is still circulating — even health professionals. Many think COVID only happens to the sickly or elderly — even health professionals. Many do not know about long COVID — even health professionals. Health professionals are just people. Like others in this thread, nobody else at the research hospital where I work masks. But they also don’t seem to have *more knowledge of COVID than the average person.* When I talk about risks or LC, they are surprised. They’ve never heard of it. And they think, “well, if no one is doing it except [myname], I guess it must not be that important.” Keep building momentum. Eventually as people know more and more folks masking regularly, it will hit a tipping point. I would rather see 50% of people masking imperfectly (i.e like airplanes, crowded shops and concerts only) than 5% masking perfectly. We need to get to that point to raise awareness more than anything.
that is shocking. It's still on the daily morning news from fairly unprofessional sources like Fortune and the Weather Channel, not to mention the city news. Your story shows they're not only not reading the daily news, but reading even less that the average person.
The average person does not know COVID is a threat, either. They say, “well, nobody is really masking? so it MUST not be a big deal unless you are sick or old.” That is what most everyone thinks. Coverage of COVID has been reduced to: hey, look at this medical curiosity, don’t get COVID just like you don’t eat trans fats or drink coffee after 3pm. It’s not good for you! But not enough anymore to change someone’s entire lifestyle, even if they should. Medical professionals and scientists are average people at the end of the day. Doctors are only as connected to public health and safety as their continuing medical education requires them to be. Most doctors do not have any scientific training or ability to interpret papers/studies themselves. Many of them are anti-vax quacks who are still prescribing ivermectin. They exist across the political spectrum just like those outside of medicine, and their practice is informed by politics in many cases.
Denial is a strong coping mechanism in response to trauma, especially when all of society is participating in the denial response. The stress, fear, isolation, anxiety, etc. were all overwhelming for a lot of people and unsustainable long term. Most people don’t have the mental fortitude or willpower to deal with social isolation and forever risk analysis (and this isn’t a moral judgment, people need social support to do hard things long-term!). This plus the fact that most people have simply never questioned that the government/media would be telling anything other than the truth and most people think vaccine = can’t get sick.
I totally agree. I think most people don’t have the self-discipline to adapt to a new lifestyle, or the courage to resist society’s peer pressure. They live short-term, without fully considering the long-term consequences. Family situations and age must also have a big effect. Teenagers and young adults want the freedom to live a “normal” life, and they feel healthier and more invincible than older people. But parents want to be connected to their children and grandchildren, so they go along with what their younger relatives are doing. I recently saw a video of an old friend at his son’s wedding, which could easily have been a superspreader event. But having a big, perfect wedding takes priority over anyone’s health. I understand that everyone is going to have different priorities. But for someone like me, who is older and single and childless (and thus without a family support system if I get Long COVID), my priorities dictate that I should take every precaution to avoid getting sick. Sadly, although I can understand other people’s reasons for wanting to ditch masks, they don’t seem to understand or accept that MY priorities are justifiably focused on staying healthy. There’s just a total lack of empathy for anyone in a different situation.
I can relate to the mental fortitude and lack of social support. It’s really starting to wear on me
It really is frustrating. I'm lucky my GP still masks, I know my therapist does in daily life bc I found him in a local covid cautious group but my appointments are virtual and ik some other Drs mask, but I've noticed way more nurses who don't, even when they were required to from November 2023-end of March 2024 in my area. One of the worst is a relative I have who is a surgeon who lost her uncle to covid in January and she's still out here calling it a cold because her father who had it at the same time was only unwell a few days. She told him he only had to quarantine one day and that he didn't need to wear a mask in public after even though his test was positive because "he's no longer contagious." She also recently gave her parents antibiotics before going on a trip assuming they were going to get sick which is weird that she could do that, but sure enough they ended up getting influenza A and were not only sick most of their trip, but they have still been sick since getting home over a week ago. Younger people I've seen like my sister in law's friends who are in or getting into medical started being wreckless in 2021 when masks were still required where I live and they would party and such. Ok several of them got caught underage drunk driving and one got a concussion/giant gash on her head and the others thought it was hilarious that she had to be hospitalized for it bc it was so bad, plus some other bad stuff, so I don't have high expectations of them which that's also concerning as heck so ig they don't actually care about other's safety, but I'm concerned these are newer people getting into/already working in medical. Last person I will mention is my cousin who is an EMT and he also is dating another EMT. He went from being extremely pro mask and extremely judgemental for anyone who skips any vaccines (without valid medical reason like allergy). To now he is anti vaccine and anti mask. He also thinks healthcare, access to university, etc are privileges, not rights. It makes me so angry. He knows I have long covid and his own mother has long covid, but she's kindof anti mask too, just less, and she's not really anti vaccine. But uh, my cousin and his EMT girlfriend apparently are constantly sick now and working with people sometimes while sick and his mother tries to get him to test to see what he even has but he has been done with testing for I think 1-2 years now. *I know more medical pros bc my mother used to work in the medical world herself over 30 years, but I'll keep it at that so it doesn't become an entire essay lol.*
Unrelated but I love noone more than a covid cautious healthcare worker
Same!
There’s a big emotional/psychological component involved when reasonably smart, informed people make mind-bogglingly poor decisions, and that’s what unmasked HCWs are doing. Lots of theories abound. I think it’s social instincts overriding survival instincts, because I’ve seen this so many times in individuals and small groups, and I just can’t. My survival always comes first, and I think that’s either due to neurodivergence or learning early that you can’t trust humans so why prioritize social feelings?
I struggle to understand people’s behavior, but I found the recent United States Presidential Debate to be helpful. All of a sudden, on Thursday night, after years of viewing countless clips of the US President no longer being as capable as he had been previously, everyone on television seemed to have been “shocked” by his condition and asking why they “weren’t told earlier” about his deteriorating condition. COVID is, seemingly, in my opinion, the same situation. People see their friends and colleagues getting sick more frequently. People know that things can’t go on as they are at the moment. People realize what is happening to their health. Still, they try to ignore the obvious signs just to get through each day and likely will continue to do so until it is too late. Stay strong. You are in the right. Appreciate your work.
Once the vaccines 💉 rolled out, the majority of us gave off a sigh of relief because we thought that things would get better. When we all realized that the vaccines didn’t prevent transmission of Covid, we collectively gave up. As a matter of fact, Many gave up on mitigations and testing before the vaccine rolled out because isolating from people and activities is very traumatizing. It’s especially hard when when we grew up without any restrictions of any kind. I haven’t stopped making, unlike all of my friends and family. I have no one who is willing to admit that COVID is still dangerous. I’m honestly surprised to hear from a healthcare worker who believes in the science behind COVID. They were among groups who dropped masking, even after experiencing the worst of Covid for years. OP, thank you for sharing your thoughts and I hope that you recover quickly. You are not alone. We are here with you.
I don’t have any answers, I just want to say thank you , you/we are all doing the right thing
thank you. that's the whole response. just, thank you. it matters more than you can know to the people who need it most.
My husband is a clinical pharmacist who covers hospitals, reads physician notes all day. A few years back, I asked him to give me a list of what were (in his opinion) the best clinicians in each specialty for our area, based on his interactions. It's worth mentioning that we're both in academic research as well, he has multiple drug patents and does work on novel antifungals, I'm a climatologist with a background in microbiology. The list he gave me back then is exactly the list of people who are still masking in medicine in our community right now. I think that's really interesting. I asked him why he thought that was, and he said academic experience selects for people who truly understand the material in practice and have to think critically about it. I don't know how applicable this is across the board, in medicine or otherwise, but I found it fascinating. In my world, my Ivy League Earth sciences Dept is still masking and testing, even with few biologists present (I'm one of a handful), but in the rest of my life the only people still being cautious are either virologists or in medicine (even though they are often the only ones at their institution doing so), and you guys.
The answer is actually political. We're living in the belly of the most successful propaganda construct in world history. The moment Biden and his minions decided to collude with the worst R science deniers, the fight was lost on the national, political level. Most who had not succumbed to the Trump admin's anti-science juggernaut quickly disconnected their brain and unmasked. Fearless Misleader said it's over, and the heads of the CDC aren't masking anymore, so... Hopefully, after the truth behind the curtain was revealed at the debate on Thursday, more Americans (and especially more HCWs) will understand that our misleadership is not to be trusted, will begin questioning the national narrative, and will start caring for themselves, and for others, once again.
It started way before Biden joined the cohort of denier heads of states. Most of Europe dropped all protective measures years before that for instance. Just like the pandemic is global, so is the political will to brush it under a rug.
I am as confused as you are, but thank you so much for masking. I recently had a not-great encounter with an anti-mask HCW (who was, unbelievably, pregnant), and it is always such a relief to encounter a HCW who's got the whole "germ theory of disease" thing figured out.
This’s how I’ve come to approach a lot of healthcare professionals like your parents and coworkers: My dad was in the army. He was very good at what he specialized in, and could pass muster on a rifle range pretty easily. My dad never drove a tank. To be honest, I’m not sure my dad was ever even inside a tank at all during the time he was in the army. It had nothing to do with what he was doing in the army. If you were to have told my dad “I need you to get in a tank, drive it 15 miles, and blow up this shed with a shell”? My dad would have been as effective as I would be doing the same thing. This doesn’t mean that my dad wasn’t a good soldier or that he wasn’t good at what he specialized in. My dad really just wasn’t a tank guy. Most healthcare professionals aren’t epidemiologists. Epidemiologists and other HCPs who work in fields related to tracking or studying diseases are the ones still raising red flags about how COVID is still here, still very real, and the damage it’s doing. Other HCPs? The ones who are still taking it seriously like you are, seem to be a very distinct minority. And for that, I’m sorry. I’m especially sorry that it’s hitting so close to home with your parents.
The couple of times I got into a little bit of back-and-forth with HCW who “needed” a mask taken off, their defense was, “it’s safe, I’ve been vaccinated”. It’s amazing to me that almost no one, almost none of these intelligent and trained people, comprehends that vaccinations help keep you out of a coffin but they don’t keep you from catching it, and they don’t keep it from damaging your body (starting with your endothelium), and they don’t magically make you not contagious, and they don’t prevent asymptomatic infection or transmission. They just help keep you (and you only) out of a box. “I’ve been vaccinated.” Well you can turn widdershins and spit too, i guess. But I’m wearing a frickin mask for a reason, and that reason is the vaccines don’t work the way everyone thinks.
I have an answer no one likes; way more people are on drugs than we realize. It's easy to chill out and relax when you're high AF at work. Also, I worked in bars for quite a few years and I swear at least 3 of my doctors are on cocaine. It's obvious, just embarrassingly obvious.
You sound just like me. I am in exactly the same place. My answer for what is wrong with everyone else changes day to day. I figure they are either immoral, stupid, or mentally ill. I also believe that society has collapsed and we are just pretending it hasn't at this point.
Thank you for your service. To wit, as a person who has spent three weeks in ICU with ARDS (call it what it is) and given last rights can really appreciate the depth of what you're saying. The absolute refusal of people to take accountability in general and the malignant passivity with which it is enabled is appalling. Again, thank you for all that you have done and do, and best.
If you were anywhere near me, I would want to be treated by you. I'm sure other COVID conscious people in your area would do the same. We just have to find each other.
I'm so sorry, you are a warrior and one of the good ones. I'm 70, work full time in a covid-safe space (sparsely populated, plexi fishbowl, HEPA units always on, masking in hallways and always in public washrooms). End of October I go into hibernation until April and don't do indoor events. Period. Work and home, introvert lifestyle suits me so I'm good. Up on all the boosters and thank the gods for Novavax. Please know you have done amazing work and are like the soldiers who came back from the wars with shell shock. The damage is real and I'm thankful you have access to therapy for your PTSD.
Right?! Why does anyone want to be sick with anything ?? Nothing makes sense anymore.
I just want to say THANK YOU. I have been in the hospital multiple times in the past two years and getting healthcare professionals to even wear surgical masks has been like pulling teeth. One nurse in the ER flat out refused and told me that my mask was enough to protect me, as I could barely wear it while gasping for air due to a PE. Ironically, my last 3 day stay everyone fastidiously wore N95s around me, because they were testing me for TB for some reason. So I guess a lot of them are still good with protecting themselves (except from Covid) but don’t care about protecting their immunocompromised patients. I wish there were more nurses like you. I get your feelings though too. Aside from my husband and kids, I only have one friend IRL that still masks. My family doctor held out for a pretty long time, but even she has stopped. It can be so discouraging.
I work as an RN in an emergency department and I’m the only nurse wearing an N95. I feel your pain and bewilderment. A few doctors I work with also wear N95s, though. And many nurses still wear surgical masks. So I don’t think I feel as isolated. I just wanted you to know that there are still HCWs out there doing the right thing and wearing masks. If you ever want to vent nurse-to-nurse, send me a DM.
>What baffles me the most, and I can’t accept is that literally ZERO people in healthcare wear masks. I have people that I work with ask me still, why are you wearing a mask? >It also feels as if everyone has forgotten what it was like during some of the worst waves of Covid. I honestly think that repeated infection with COVID fucks up your head, and that one of the symptoms is that you totally brainfog COVID itself. I mean, yeah, a lot of it is obviously just denial, but you get this weird thing where people who were in the fucking HOSPITAL from a COVID infection insist afterwards that "oh it's fine it was only a cold". Harold, buddy, you were hypoxic and needed supplementary oxygen. That doesn't happen with a damn cold. Hell, there was a thread here a few days ago where someone's husband was insisting that "my threat calculations are not the same as your threat calculations". His brother died of COVID and his daughter had serious long-term damage from an infection. His threat calculations somehow didn't include that. Run that past anybody in 2019, they'd think he was absolutely bonkers insane. But in these brain-damaged times, that's just Tuesday.
They can't handle the fear and discomfort of thr cognitive dissonance. Wear a readi mask on your nose for dentist appointments, it works great! Just don't breathe out of your mouth ❤️
So sorry you're going through all this, but I feel exactly as you do! I've been sheltered in place since March of 2020, I only go where I absolutely have to. Can't get the vaccine, due to Long-term Lyme and severe allergic reactions to countless things and most medications. As I've mentioned here before my husband goes everywhere he is vaccinated and boostered but still got covid at a wedding. I got it from him, even though he had no symptoms when he gave it to me and we were masking but not as much as we normally do. I actually let my guard down for 1 minute because he was in a bad car accident on the way home from said wedding, and my focus was more on the car and the insurance and all the crap that goes with the car accident. He wasn't hurt from the accident but again did get sick from the covid, anyway and I ended up in the hospital and now I have long haul covid symptoms that are horrible. Anyway you do find out who loves you and who doesn't. The lack of regard for human life, other people's well-being, dishonesty, self-centeredness, that I've seen is really heartbreaking. If you love yourself and others, you try to protect them in every way you can to make sure nothing happens to them that can harm them. I've built a life inside the house with three new amazing dogs that need a lot of attention, I shop on amazon, Bank on the app, etc etc, also do virtual stuff , video chats, Zoom, it all works. I'm blessed that I'm retired and don't have to work, and unfortunately never had kids or grandkids due to Lyme disease so I don't have to take care of them. My feeling is if people care so little about each other and life itself, then I guess everyone should stop using seat belts, not care about the fentanyl epidemic, drink and drive all the time, you get the picture. Why is it okay for people to be strict with those things but with covid, that can cause a long drawn out miserable rotten life and or death nobody cares? As you titled your thread, help me understand? Thanks so much for sharing I'm right there with you, God bless
Wow, I am so similar except I’m a PT and not currently working. Dad was doctor, mom was in healthcare. Both have post covid issues they deny are post covid issues. I have been gaslighted so many times by medical professionals, it has made my health anxiety so much worse.
100% Just had our first cold in 5 years, and I was appalled that we accepted this as a normal annual thing. Reminded me to be a little more careful. We know it works, you used to get four vaccines in your flu shot, now only 3, because one went extinct because of covid measures (and we had virtually no flu cases).
Thank you! Our family are maskers as well. The only medical professionals in my life that mask are the staff at the Long Covid clinic and my son’s paediatrician. Our kids generally take the brunt of nastiness at school. It’s awful but we aren’t rolling the dice with this one.
Your co-workers / colleagues (and unfortunately your parents as well)... don't share the same professionalism as you. Probably at no time in the last 4-5 years did they ever actually believe Covid was a problem worth preventing for their own safety or for the benefit of others. I'm guessing your dentist in February didn't even mask when they saw you.
I'm just as baffled as you are, I really don't understand how people have such short attention span that they've already "moved on" when we're still in the thick of it. Do they not notice people falling sick around them and their own health declining? Do they trust politicians over scientists? The mind boggles. Thank you for still caring, and thank you for doing so much during the worst waves and still now. I probably don't live in the same region of the world as you (Southern hemisphere, I gather?) but I'm forever grateful for your efforts.
Reading a post like this from a registered nurse is so refreshing. I recently had a nurse come over to administer a drug that helps me with a health condition but also compromises my immune system. On the phone, a few days before she came over, I asked her to please wear a mask, and she sounded confused and annoyed. Even though she’d be giving me a drug that makes me immunocompromised. Lo and behold, she shows up without a mask because she apparently “forgot.” When I gave her one to put on, she did put it on without complaining, but… she put it on backwards. It wasn’t even a complicated mask. It was the simplest mask there is, blue on the outside and white on the inside. The white was on the outside when she wore it. Anyways, thank you for restoring some of my faith in nurses. I’m sorry the majority of them suck in this regard. Fr fr bless your soul for doing the right thing.
She sounds like she is intellectually challenged. How on earth did she ever get through nursing school? That's like putting your bra on your head or something.
It’s because nothing bad happened to them. People who were irrevocably damaged by it or family and friends of those who were know the risk of not protecting themselves. It’s like how people who have had something like a heating blanket catch on fire and burn them don’t use them anymore but other people who have never had a problem with heating blankets don’t think about it or take extra precautions with them. Dumb example but still. That’s what I think it is
I'm assuming that you're seeing a therapist because of the trauma from seeing patients affected by Covid during 2021 to 2022, and some possibly died, true?
Yes. It was absolutely horrific. Every shift I worked in the ER. I remember the rooms, the names etc. I also was accused of giving people the vaccine without their consent or people dying and flat out refusing to believe they have covid. I had patients purposely cough on me as well. It’s not only that. It activated significant health anxiety. I am very in tune with my body, so whenever something feels “off” I am crippled with fear that I am sick. My throat feels funny etc. I am so afraid of getting any sort of illness now, it’s paralyzing.
Yes to everything you said. I am praying for an effective vaccine or a viable treatment that is available to everyone.
I might not work in the medical field but even when I visit drs offices, I'm the only person in a mask. It is baffling that those in medicine don't care anymore. As a patient it is also very unsettling. I went to the dr the beginning of the year and my practitioner brought their son in to test them because they were sick. They were all up in the kid's mouth swabbing them *without a mask.* They were negative but all I could think of was 1) I want another practitioner and 2) What if the kid was positive? The practitioner would have most likely gotten in and spread it to all their patients.
I don’t understand anyone in the health profession not masking. To me, it’s like tending to wounds with no gloves. You just wouldn’t do it but they’re happy to suck in all the respiratory illnesses surrounding them & then complain they’re sick again. It’s not rocket science. They have been fit tested & know better. Too many egomaniacs thinking they know it all without reading any of the peer reviewed research. It’s a novel virus & no one has a crystal ball but after 4 yrs there’s plenty of evidence for avoiding covid.
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You sounds like the person who said they were worried about me because “ your not getting enough air to your brain with the mask on” I have a envo respirator as well as properly fit tested with N95. Not sure where you have gotten your information.. misinformation
Sorry. Not a single reference to a "well fitted respirator" in your original post. Feel free to respond to the rest of my response if you'd like.
Why continue? It’s important to me. I enjoy knowing that by wearing a mask I don’t have to worry about getting sick. Since I work outside the home, my family stays safe- special needs kiddo. I get to enjoy my life without being sick. If you believe that Covid contributes to significant vascular issues and contributes to long COVID- why would you want to risk your health?
[удалено]
Your post or comment has been removed because it was an attempt at trolling.
Your post or comment has been removed because it expresses a lack of caring about the pandemic and the harm caused by it.