mask

Hey everyone! So, I have an autoimmune disorder and I'm slowly getying out of having debilitating symptoms from long covid. My flares are still worse than they were pre-covid though. My doctor told me that I should still wear my nask indoors, due to higher risk people experiencing worsening long covid when they get covid a 2nd time. I'm double boosted but still concerned about getting long covid again. I couldn't function, was in so much pain and became so depressed. Are any higher risk people in this group still wearing masks when indoor? How are you coping with covid precautions currently?

Hey, I know people on here don't diagnose and i know that you should not self diagnose. However, I've felt like i have been living under a mask my whole life, and like dont know how to be myself. I am constantly stoping myself form doing things to seem "normal". I do have ADHD but idk everyone in my family has ADHD and they dont struggle in the same sense as me.

I find life very confusing and starting to get harder to understand what i should be doing with my life and just so much more.

My therapist that i started seeing assumed i had aspergers syndrome. What does that mean lol? How do you just assume that somone has aspergers.#Autism #mask

Since being diagnosed with ADHD I have been looking into helpful resources. I came across a YouTube channel called How To ADHD. One of the videos that really was a mental sucker punch is titled Dealing with Imposter Syndrome. Now while I don't identify with imposter syndrome as a whole one thing really stuck out for me. There was a part in it about "masking" where we put on a different mask for situations we don't think we are good enough for, but try anyway.

Even before the pandemic began and masks became a mandatory staple for nearly everyone I fell in love with them. I love woodworking and other crafts so I started getting them to protect my lungs from the dust. I started out with a mask from RZmask (not a sponsor) that had a really sweet design. After that I began seeing ads for SA Gear (also not a sponsor) with their neck sleeves so naturally I impulse bought one of their five pack sales and got a few for me and a couple for my wife.

I found that I loved the sensation of wearing a mask. At first I thought it was from my life long obsession with super heroes which is an entirely plausible explanation. Then nearly two years later I am officially diagnosed with ADHD and watching the video mentioned above and that's when it hit me.

I really love wearing masks because I am not entirely sure who I am at any given moment and putting a mask on helps relax. I may be a poster child for Lewis Carroll's quote in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland "I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then." I know it sounds simple, but it really does give me a sense of safety and not just in the pandemic use.

I have also studied the enneagram personality test. According to that I am a type 9 which is somewhat erroneously dubbed "the peacemaker." This is certainly a whole different discussion, but when listening to a podcast about the subject I heard something interesting that aligns with what I have been saying here. When the podcast hosts were interviewing two people who also tested out as type 9's they talked about self erasure. This is something that happens to this personality type frequently. They stated that most of us have little to no sense of self and that we are mirrors of those around us. We draw cues from individuals and try to build something that looks like a functioning person, but it is just a facade. At the end of the day we have to erase our proverbial hard drive and build our new self tomorrow. This totally aligns with the masking part of imposter syndrome with shocking accuracy.

The fact that I have struggled with my sense of self for years is not at all surprising with all this that is now clarified. Thus wearing a mask allows me to be a version of me that I am learning to accept. It hides me from having to live up to unrealistic expectations that I have placed on myself trying to fit in to society.

Here are the links for items I spoke about:
How to ADHD: Imposter Syndrome
Enneagram podcast: content warning Expl

Sorry for the vent that’s about to come unfortunately this community is about the only thing I have to talk to and to understand me most days.
When I got sick my friends and family slowly disappeared. Then you had the years before Biden.
I think it was difficult to keep our political opinions quiet. I lost friends and family members well you can’t lose them (unfortunately) but ug you just avoid those conversations and them as much as possible. Now it’s Covid, mask mandates and the Vaccine.
Reason for this rant. I have family members who don’t believe in wearing masks. I have relatives and friends who don’t want to take the vaccine.
I am immunocopromised. So it makes me angry, really angry.
They also have children, they as parents don’t believe in wearing masks so then the children follow and do the same as the parents. So if the children g-d forbid got Covid it’s on the parents. Ignorance. Smh.
So now as much as I love my nieces and nephews I have to avoid seeing them and any family member who doesn’t wear a mask. I already felt quarantined in my life when I got sick. Now I feel I am further isolating myself. Anyone else having these issues with family? #COVID19 #mask #Immunocompromised #quarantined #Vaccine #RheumatoidArthritis #Fibromyalgia #ChronicIllness

That's a good use of a mask! www.instagram.com/p/CQS6ccnFRks
#parakeets #budgies #mask #funny #Laugh

So many people walk around with a smile on there faces. But do you know what’s really behind that smile? It’s the many masks that a person can have. So many people live the made up world of hiding what’s behind that smile. The pain, being afraid, the sadness, the hurt that one person can have. A world that society makes us feel the way they want us to be. A person that has to always fake what’s really behind that mask. I know the many masks a person has to wear. A mask that a person has to wear to make the person next to them smile. A mask that shows concern to someone so they can have the smile or the mask that they want you to see. A mask that has so much pain because of the way that person makes you feel. A mask that covers up the scars of being abused physically and mentally. A mask hoping your kids would realize how much you love and need them. A mask that misses the way the family used to be. A mask that has to hide the way you feel everyday. A mask that has so many regrets for the way they have been or a word that they have said. A person with many masks is the way we are trained by everyday life. Between the way the world is to the way “friends and family” believe you should be. The people we call friends on social media that really wears a mask of calling you a friend. When it comes down to it they don’t know the many masks you wear. Family that you think would be there for you when they know the masks you wear daily. But the mask you have to wear has so much pain hiding behind that fake smile that you have to wear. I hope one day the masks you wear can be put away. That you will be wearing a real smile and not that mask that hides what’s really behind the smile they see. #mask #MentalHealth #Depression #Anxiety

I have a moment to myself. That's it, a moment.  And I am ok and happy with that.

Our two year old twin girls, Ella and Eve both have a rare aggressive #Cancer .  They not only share the same DNA, but the same Cancer.   Everyday is an uphill battle. But, they are my heroes. #heroes

They were both diagnosed with cancer at 1 month old.  They've probably spent more time in the hospital than at home.   They've endured chemotherapy, ostomy bags, seizures, feeding tubes, deadly infections, uncontrollable blood pressures, septic shock, life support, countless examines under anesthesia, and their fight is ongoing.  

I get it. People think it's a violation of their rights to wear a mask. However, I feel that if I don't wear a mask, its violating the rights of my twins to LIVE. It's violating the rights of others who also wear a mask and want to LIVE.  #live

See, whenever our twins are at the hospital (even before Pandemic),#dcotors  always gowned up. ALWAYS Head to toe. And, it kept our twins safe. Safe from those tiny microorganisms that could kill them. I know that, because I witnessed it first hand. So if my precious twins' lives were saved by a #mask , then I will proudly wear a mask, for them and everyone else.

We have been under #quarantine for months. It's nothing new to us. Its familiar ground. They gone through grueling #Chemotherapy , and their blood counts would sit at zero for weeks.  So, we would stay at home.  Now, we keep them at home to protect them from the Corona Virus.  They've been through so much already, I cannot imagine them suffering in a hospital again.  

Now, the virus has caused their treatments and appointments to be delayed or canceled.  My husband's employment has gone from 7 days a week, to virtually zero.  We are scared to bring them into a community setting.  

They are strong and they are brave.  I am proud that they are mine. @OakleyTwinsJourney
#Retinoblastoma #ChildhoodCancers #twins #Anxiety #Depression  #wearamask #RareDisease #sisters #Health #MedicallyFragile #Toddlermom #Deafness #cancerresearch #Awareness  #Safety

#ChronicPain
#crps #TrigeminalNeuralgia #facepain #maskintolerance