COVID Confusion

@syag-lchochma I’m not sure where you live but I feel really sorry for your country that pushes this culture of sinas chinam. That’s terrible that the so-called “doctors” are telling people not to wear masks. Here in the USA (and in Israel) doctors and researchers have shown that shuls where everyone wears a mask, stands apart, and washes hands have almost nobody catching the virus. But shuls and schools that aren’t following those guidelines have become major disease vectors. Your depression suffering friend can no longer leave the house out of fear of getting infected! How terrible! If everyone would wear masks, fear of infection would be much less and we would all be able to socialize normally. May this end soon in our time!

@syag-lchochma The mask wearing should make everyone happier! I am so much happier knowing that I will not get infected when I go to shul or the supermarket! Not wearing a mask should make everyone depressed as it will increase the rate of infection (like we are already seeing in NYC) forcing more people to be homebound, stopping schools, minyanim, and social scenes.

@syag-lchochma

The doctors in your country. In the US and Israel there isn’t one doctor, scientist, or epidemiologist who is on record saying not to wear a mask. Not one!

I’m sorry I misread your thread. It seems your friend has some niche form of extrovert depression which is exasperated by masks. I’m not a psychologist, so I can’t say what she should be doing to alleviate her symptoms. I feel sorry for her, I really do, but you have to remember that masks have far more to gain than to lose. For every person who’s mental instability is worsened by seeing everyone in masks, there are hundreds more who are helped because they can now see and talk to people face-to-face and thousands more protected from COVID-19.

Have you decided that covid is our only concern and other people’s suffering aren’t even important enough for you to acknowledge them?

Chas V’Shalom! I am so sorry that I wasn’t being clear! Other people’s suffering is the prime concern. It’s the only concern. We should be concerned that people are suffering from COVID-19. Many many people are spending weeks, or even months, with trouble breathing, trouble tasting, and trouble with physical activity. That’s not even getting into the numerous hospitilizations and deaths, which will only get worse if measures aren’t taken to contain the virus. Anything we can do to alleviate that will help. Unfortunately, the medicine is bitter and hard to swallow. We have to adjust our lifestyles to help with it. But we don’t need to stop completely, which is where social distancing, hand washing, and masks come into play. I love my neighbor and I want them to be mentally healthy, but more than that I don’t want them to get seriously sick!

You have repeatedly said that, (and I quote) “doctors say masks don’t help”. Like I said, maybe that’s how it is in your country, but I can say with absolute certainty that I have never heard a US or Israel expert mirror that sentiment. I don’t know what your purpose of mentioning it is other than to fight against masks. The whole purpose of my original post was to encourage mask wearing, if you agree with it then why are we arguing? The effectiveness of masks has been proven again and again and again. It’s currently the main weapon against COVID-19 infection. If everyone would wear masks, socially distant, and wash their hands, we can simultaneously take care of our mental health while fighting COVID-19.

@Syag-Lchochma My mistake then. We are in agreement that masks are incredibly important and everyone should keep wearing them.

Again, I’m not belittling your friends depression. But you have to understand the difficult situation the world is currently in. Your friend faces a phobia and depression because people wear masks, yes? But there are far more people facing depression because people don’t wear masks. Remember April of 2020 when you literally could not walk outside? That is the reality if we don’t take care and wear masks, which is one of the reasons they are so important. So with all due respect to your friend, she has to get a competent psychologist that will help her through this really really difficult time. But she, and others with a mask phobia, is not a compelling reason to tell people to stop wearing masks.

(Also, check your numbers. COVID-19 unchecked could lead to millions dead, far worse than suicide. So far we are at 200,000 just in the US partially because people are wearing masks and social distancing. And national suicide rates have barely budged.)

@Syag-Lchocma Maybe I just don’t understand your comment. Your friend is having her mental instability exasperated by the fact that people wear masks, yes? That’s what I meant, did I get it wrong?

If we are in agreement that everyone should be wearing masks around other people as often as possible in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, then I think we can make Shalom on this whole thread.