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With @GovAndyBeshear’s new mandatory mask order causing a number of Kentuckians to lose their everloving minds, I thought now might be a good time to share my recent experience. A thread.
The short version - I have struggled with asthma/significant breathing problems + illnesses my entire life. I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember (i.e., my entire life). Last week I had an asthma/allergy attack that sent me to the ER.
I wore a mask the entire time I was being checked in to the ER and while other people were in my ER exam room w/ me even though I was having significant trouble breathing and was starting to panic. I SURVIVED and so will you!
Wearing a simple mask does not prevent you from breathing. Saying you can’t wear one bc you have asthma is a cop out in my opinion considering I was actually smothering and having the mask on or off did not make a difference with that.
Saying you can’t wear a mask bc you have anxiety is less of a cop out and more words from someone who hasn’t been provided with the appropriate coping skills to handle anxiety inducing situations. As a school psychologist raised by a psychologist, I have some coping skills
If you allow yourself to believe that you can’t breathe and that the mask increases your anxiety, and those are the only things you focus on then that is what your anxiety will focus on.
Bringing yourself into the moment while wearing your mask and taking a few minutes to run thru some mindfulness techniques like closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing, what you can smell even tho ur wearing a mask, what you hear around u, what u can still taste
are ways to calm your anxiety and remind your brain that it is okay and that you can, in fact, breathe with a mask on. Is comfortable? Not really. Does it make you hot bc it’s July and you’re feeling ur own hot breath in ur face? Sure. Of course.
But, let me tell you what is more uncomfortable - watching your parent struggle to breathe, so the doctors put a trach in and put your parent on a ventilator is also extremely uncomfortable (as is - I would assume - actually having that procedure done).
I know, bc I’ve watched as one of my parents had this done a few years back to save their life after a severe accident.
Listening to your friends since childhood tell you that they can’t visit their grieving mother following the death of their father (from COVID) bc she’s in quarantine is uncomfortable and heartbreaking.
Wearing a seatbelt and putting your baby in a carseat are required by state law bc it saves lives almost every single time. Wearing a helmet on a motorcycle is required by state law bc it saves lives. Not smoking in restaurants is required by state law bc it saves lives &
allows those with breathing problems to eat in restaurants without suffering from secondhand smoke inhalation. Driving drunk or high is against the law.
CAN you CHOOSE not to do these things even though they are laws? Yes. Will you face consequences for not following these laws? Yes. In some of these examples are u putting others at risk by not following them? Yes.
Is a seatbelt uncomfortable? Yes. Do babies always like carseats? No. Is it annoying that if you smoke you can’t do so inside anymore? Probably. Idk.
ITS THE SAME WITH A MASK!! They aren’t comfortable to anyone. But wearing one is the one sure thing we can do as American citizens to help save ourselves and others.
In the ER the other night, after a breathing treatment but without a mask, my oxygen level was still as low as 93. Prior to the breathing treatment, it was lower. Wearing a mask made no difference in my oxygen level at all. Once I was able to breathe again, I watched my levels
with and without a mask. They were the same. You CAN breathe with a mask on. Even if you have asthma. Even if you have anxiety. Some of you simply do NOT want to wear one, and it is easier to tell urself & others u have a “legitimate” reason not to wear one.
If you have anxiety - Practice wearing one at home. This will give you time to get used to wearing one in an environment where you’re comfortable. Also, no one is asking you to wear one 24/7. Wear it for the 30 mins you’re in Walmart and take it off in your car.
You WILL survive it. And wearing one might actually save someone else’s life (or your own) as well!
Oh! And I’m negative for COVID-19, in case anyone was wondering.
