Masks, health and anxiety disorders

You would be hard pressed to find a health professional of any sort who did not believe that deep, calm, diaphragmatic/ belly breathing is good for you. Shallow breathing is correlated with anxiety. It reflects it, certainly, but arguably the habit supports it as well.  When I do my HRV training I take slow deep breaths and my heart rate decreases, my HRV goes up, and I am very sure my blood pressure goes down as well. There is now an FDA approved blood pressure treatment device that relies on this principle.

You know what interferes with deep, relaxed breathing? Masks. I would go so far as to call them ancillary anxiety support devices.

Everywhere you look, it is OBVIOUS that the overarching goal at least for nearly all Democrats is not to end this lockdown by ending the disease, but to prolong the lockdown by prolonging the fear.

Masks are a visible symbol saying “there is something to fear”. They are certainly that, even if in nearly 100% of the daily interactions around the world the DISEASE IS NOT EVEN PRESENT.

But they also directly support fear.

For me, if it is obvious to me I’m dealing with someone who works somewhere who just doesn’t want to get in trouble—with their employer or the State—I will wear a mask out of courtesy to that.

But I leave my nose exposed, and when possible my mouth.  I have reduced my short take to this: I’m not sick, so I can’t infect anyone. The “asymptomatic carrier” is a unicorn, Either I am coughing and should be home, or the only way I can infect you is sustained contact at a distance close enough to kiss you. And I don’t care if you have it. I don’t care if I’m exposed. I’m doing a LOT to protect t my health and refuse to live in fear of something invisible and largely harmless.

And if you want me to help you alleviate your own fear, sorry pal: not my job, not my problem.