Your last line is so powerful. I have felt since the very start of the new virus hysteria that we would be in a mental crisis. I just spent the last 2 weeks helping my daughter move to Florida from Seattle for a new job. She is a therapist for at risk kids/families. In Seattle she was forced to counsel these families who were in crisis with a mask on her face and masks on theirs. it was devastating. As much as she loved working with these families, she finally had to leave. I have basically left Seattle as well because more than 75% of children that i see in public are masked. It is horrific. Even educators that I know who don't like the practice tell me that they "don't want to make waves". To me it's so clearly child abuse and I am floored at how many people that I thought were compassionate are going along with this. I am currently in Arizona a my "freedom house' where it is MOSTLY sane. However, last night we attended an outdoor festival where there was a group of young Girl Scouts selling cookies. The little girls were the only masked people there. It was so sad and I told the adult there that I would love to buy cookies from smiling faces but I would have to pass today. She just shrugged. Thank you SO much for focusing on this massive societal issue! I agree this is not over yet. We must scream from the rooftops. NEVER AGAIN.
Mental illness is increasing--wouldn't you say? It wasn't CAUSED by mask mandates. But our society somewhat destroys close communal bonds that might protect people against scapegoating, fear, social anxieties, etc. (Read Matthias Desmet) Also we are losing our democracy. I sympathize with those experiencing and feeling a threat to their lives. But I have no sympathies with Big Pharma, Big Government, and the Medical/Military Industrial complex. Because they have no sympathies or loyalties with their citizens. No matter how much myocarditis, cancer, paralysis, strokes, blood clots, deaths--it's all "for our own good" and the benefits outweigh the risks. In the words of Frank Yeomans, psychiatrist at Columbia University, "Please do not inflict your goodness on us!"
Amen! Fear has overtaken so many. My current governor Jay Inslee is expected to announce an end to indoor mask mandates today ( we will see...). I am concerned that so many in WA state will still continue. My sister reports that the teenagers at the school she teaches at are "terrified" at the prospect of removing masks. Healing will take time. And I am hoping that those who did this will be held accountable.
I agree that masking children is child abuse, and masks all day to be allowed to work are cruel and unhealthy .. and masking outdoors is absolutely absurd - even if a mask gave substantial protection in any direction, when the effective area is literally infinite, there's nothing to protect from. It's heartbreaking to see so many masks outdoors, and on children (in NYC). Yet when I ride the subway / bus, I put on an N95. Not out of blind compliance with authorities I don't trust, but because I'm weighing various factors, and even tho I'm less sure it does anything protective, even on the chance it does, the factors of density, duration, draft, dimensions (and personal health and elderly parents), point to even a slight protection being worth it.
When people cough on the train, I feel better that I have that mask on. I take it off the second I get outside. There is some ambiguity even among the doctors who know the official narrative is bullshit as to if masks can be useful sometimes, or are completely ineffective. Dr Meryl Nass says N95s do something, if fitted right, while cloth / surgical masks don't do anything. The many studies in a long Brownstone article on masks have mixed results for N95s. Dr. Pierre Kory points out that mask studies often don't differentiate for type of space, and in some indoor spaces they could be useful.
Online I've seen a lot of derision for people who wear masks. But - believe it or not - it's possible to wear masks (indoors), and also understand the factors of deception and control and abuse that are happening. I have treatments at home in case I get covid, but I still really don't want that lab created virus.
I also understand that even tho I find it simple enough to wear a mask for a half hour train ride or store trip, that cannot map onto someone else's experience of masking, especially not for long periods of time - and expecting people to basically live / go to school in masks is horrible.
I might be wrong that an N95 does something, it might not do anything at all .. and seeing how little to no credible evidence there is for most masks to do anything, and how much control they are taking, as if we are cattle, I understand better that those who refuse masks even briefly are coming from a solid place of refusing to comply.
But do masks automatically equal being delusional? Perhaps depends on the situation ...?
You are making thoughtful remarks here. Without rehashing the data that shows unequivocally that mask-wearing offers minimal to no benefit in protecting against the transmission of respiratory viral illness, allow me to propose two thought exercise questions:
1. What exactly are you protecting against by wearing a mask?
2. What is the cost (physical, psychological, social) to wearing a mask?
I believe these two questions are quite important and nearly universally ignored by most Americans, who are guided by irrational fear to the exclusion of all else.
1. What exactly are you protecting against by wearing a mask?
Going on the assumption that there is some, minimal protection, I'm hoping to protect against - An amorphous inflammatory condition that's difficult to treat and can continue to seriously sabotage life, energy, cognition and movement, potentially lifelong. I make similar calculations when in forests, choosing to both be in nature and do my best to avoid ticks in areas with lyme ticks.
Something about the way covid (& lyme) can stay with people and interfere with so many aspects of life = I don't want to get them. Lyme may(?) have also came from a lab, and that may explain the similarities. I see risk calculation for a lab altered virus that many don't fully recover from very different than cold / flu.
Of course early treatment makes long covid less likely, and I am prepared. But I still don't want to get this thing. Yet, if I did, if an N95 could make a difference in amount of infectious dose / viral inoculum - that could be the difference in being able to fully knock it out with HCQ + IVM + the other FLCCC first line therapies, or having a higher viral load with more risk of lasting damage, and needing to expand the kitchen sink to five - seven+ pharmaceutical drugs, which even if they got me through covid, could take their toll on these tired kidneys.
When severity of infection has to do with infectious dose, if a mask could potentially lessen infectious dose - that's enough to make it worth it to me (as long as it's a situation where infection can potentially occur). I'm not going to wear a seatbelt sitting on my couch, and I'm not going to wear a mask outdoors, because there is no there-there, but indoors there is, especially depending on density / draft / dimensions / how many people pass through the space ... )
I also don't want to get anyone sick. I visit my parents and am there for long enough duration that if I was sick and didn't yet know it, they could get sick (I certainly don't trust their "safe and effective" "vaccines" to protect them, and Mom doesn't trust covid treatments).
I try to balance and evaluate, mitigate risks when they're there, and realize when they aren't there.
2. What is the cost (physical, psychological, social) to wearing a mask?
I know there are physical costs to mask wearing, including respiratory and dental. I don't know how long one needs to be in the mask for those costs to become close to significant. The costs are probably much worse for masks worn for hours at a time. I'm going on the assumption that the longer one is in the mask, the physical + psychological costs go up, and the potential effectiveness drops, because of the duration factor. (Hence the absolute insanity of masking children in school).
For masking maybe a few days a month, (sometimes to take the train to protests), of duration ranging from apx 10 minutes - one hour, I don't think I'm doing much harm from breathing constriction. I do wonder about things inhaled (and I'd love to know more about graphene from reliable sources). (More to say on having looked into this but need to make comment shorter)
There's the shameful cost to the planet also ... (Although N95s can be reused, mine are still in good condition after occasional use for almost a year)
This says that even if studies show no effectiveness, there still could be effectiveness for finite periods of time, and that may not be clear on the studies. (Although this was written in January 2021.) When asked about changing recommendations of masking on last Wednesday's webinar, he said they're considering it, but there still may be times masks would be recommended, esp. if many people in a small space.
Psychological costs, I think, depends on if one is forced to or making a choice based on risk /benefit calculation (even if it's ultimately incorrect, it's still weighing variables thoughtfully and making a decision - not being disconnected to an unclear reason like "because covid", or "because they tell me to").
Psychological costs would increase with duration also .. True, I am mildly frustrated and can't wait to get off the train on anything but the shortest rides, yet others wear masks all day, and ultimately I don't see my half hour as that big a deal.
Social costs - Yes, there have been social costs to everyone wearing face diapers / duck masks ... (especially for children). Transit rides were feeling dystopian for years, with everyone on their phones .. I try to make eye contact and say polite hellos ... humans / mammals were meant to see faces, yes, and all the masked faces are sad and another level of dystopia.
Masks do divide and put a layer of distance between humans, and an undercurrent of stress. I'm reluctantly willing to look like a duck if it might make a difference in if / or how severe, I got / passed on this disease. If anything has elevated risk from density / dimensions and (lack of) draft, it's public transit. I do love being at protests, when we are outdoors and there are few or no masks, and it almost feels like .. humans being humans again ...
Hope this makes sense .. feel free to ask other questions / forgive slow replies. Thank you for your questions, and all your work. The parallels to what's going on and abusive dynamics are so clear .. voices of mental health professionals willing to speak out are necessary and sacred ...
Love your reasonable approach. I recommend vitamin D3 at least 4000 IU daily. Dr. Mercola states that people whose blood levels were 50 and above never get Covid. I believe that's too strong a statement. NEVER? Also high dose vitamin C. I take up to bowel tolerance: 4 or 5 grams daily. But if you are concerned about aerosolized spread you MUST spray your nasal passages with provodone iodine such as CofxRx. (See Dr. Peter McCollough's product) Iodine renders viruses ineffective. EVEN BETTER than a mask. Reduce your viral load--and you reduce the risk of spread/transmission. Carry the little spray bottle in your purse--and spray before and leaving the subway car. At first I felt unprotected when I discarded my masks. Now, I totally don't care. I can be like a sardine in the crowded rush hour subway system of NYC. (2 or 3 times weekly). The reason for feeling nervous is because wearing a mask reduced your fears somewhat. NOW if you DON'T wear it--those fears will return in full force. But after a while the fear will diminish. My fear of rejection has still not diminished a whole lot., however. And hiding my face won't help. All your post makes sense for sure!
NOTE: I have not been sick AT ALL. (Well just a tiny sore throat for about 3 or 4 days) during the last 3-4 years. I'm 81 now. Crippled by arthritis YES Crippled by Covid-NO.
Incidentally, what do you think about the ability of N95 masks to filter out tiny viral particles? Is there a good enough seal between the edges of the mask and your face? The administrator of my chiropractor's office was wearing a loose fitting N95 mask that left at least a 1/2 inch gap between her face and the mask. When I pointed this out, she replied, "At least my nose is protected!" I bet there was at least a placebo effect.
There is also a placebo effect for my therapist who frequently travels on airplane flights to China, India, Japan, and Australia where he trains and supervises other psychotherapists. He inserts a straw under the bottom of his mask so he can safely sip water during his flight.
I submitted a cartoon caption to the New Yorker. Each week they publish a cartoon without a caption. One week the cartoon showed a woman cringing away from a giant ant sitting next to her on the aisle seat. I submitted this caption:
"Oh God! I TOLD you not to get that fourth booster!"
In the business world we use cost/benefit analysis every day. For some reason when it comes to this health issue our health leaders have thrown cost/benefit and risk / reward out the window. To me the chance of getting a cold or flu (assuming masking works) is such a small risk compared to communicating to people without a face. I try to ask the Pro- maskers that I know to just pause and ask themselves deeply- why?
Actually costs/benefits are evaluated VERY DIFFERENTLY. If you are a global predator wishing to diminish the world's population, costs/benefits will look very different than if you are a frail, sickly elderly person with COPD, heart transplant, etc. I am practicing being able to state "risks" or "benefits" in a very emotionless way. It helps me since it seems the world doesn't see any of the risks or benefits the way I do. I'm trying not to freeze my heart. I want to keep experiencing all the pain/fear/anger so that I have no emotional mask between me and others. I won't necessarily BELIEVE that Covid is an existential threat, and everything else pales in significance.
She sells some hilarious t shirts. One t shirt shows a person dying in the subway with a vaccine syringe in his arm. Passenger next to him says, "I guess that means it's working" Or person dead with jab sticking out of his arm: "I'm grateful it could have been so much worse!" Or nurse brandishing a syringe over a kneeling patient with their butt up in the air "Calm down victims!"
Masks mask more than the virus hysteria. They are symbolic of a general atmosphere of denial which masks all sorts of psychopathology. There seems to be kind of a permissiveness agreed on to cave not only to this hysteria but to a more generalized one.
Unfortunately the hysteria doesn’t stop at virus related issues. Confusion reigns so supreme that the over stressed are collapsing into denial and poor coping skills. I notice this in parents and their young children and this is among families who don’t mask or vaccinate and understand the deceptions involved.
Parents do without sleep, without self care, fall deeper into poverty, become less able to perceive of or take advantage of available resources, begin home schooling and begin a descent into madness. The kids follow suit as delusion reigns and any reasonable environment disappears.
The descent seems impossible to stop and doesn’t bode well for any sort of reasonable future.
This article points at deeply systemic layers of pre-existing and ever deepening mental illness. Opportunities for accessing professional care are really nearly nonexistent. Families can help but they too are limited. A civilization simply doesn’t tip into madness and chaos without these.
I'm considering printing out this one and the one you sent to your patients for the next time I have to visit the insane asylum that is a medical establishment which requires face diapers (all of them) and handing it to whomever I'm seeing. "This is my perspective too. Just wanted you to know."
I'm mentally ill. I would be too scared of rejection to do this! HOWEVER, I don't wear any masks. But if asked (secret rebellion) I have masks that are very light with lots and lots of holes. They don't protect against Covid--but they DO protect against rejection.
Fully on-board with what you wrote here and what you stand for, Dr. McDonald. Thank you for both. You're one of my personal heroes. As a fellow resident of Los Angeles, I'm also disheartened, disgusted, and saddened by seeing face masks everywhere I go. I'm in the Koreatown part of the city, and I scan for someone, anyone, who is maskless like me, and I only remember seeing perhaps 5 people in two years (excluding those dining at restaurants) who are maskless. I'm harrassed occasionally at some establishments to wear a mask. The worst is that my youngest daughter wears one and makes her son, my grandson, wear one. They both have a collection of stretchy cloth ones in various colors and designs, and it makes me feel sick. But I won't let this ruin my day. I will continue to go maskless everywhere I go and be happy that I was fortunate enough to be able to see through all of this BS and understand the agenda of the elites (totalitarian global control) and choose freedom over fear. I do need to get out of Los Angeles, because the daily weight of being surrounded by brainwashed face diaper-wearing zombies gets to me and wears on my joy in living. As another poster mentioned, I too want to smile at, make eye contact with and say hello to passersby, but few will engage with a stranger, and many cross the street rather than to pass near me because I'm maskless when I go for walks. Could it be because of my MAGA hat?
On a beautiful brisk day in my hometown of Berkeley this week, I spotted a woman on my block perched on a retaining wall and looking intently at me while I was walking my dog. I thought maybe she thought she knew me. However, as I crossed the street to get to my house I got a closer look: she had dismounted to take a cigarette break. She then got up, put her mask on, hopped onto her bike and pedaled away. I kid you not.
I'm in therapy with a good psychotherapist who endorses masking and mRNA vaccines. He DOES NOT endorse vaccine mandates--although he does endorse frequent testing to rule out infection (especially for unvaccinated people). He agreed with my history of drug reactions I shouldn't get vaccinated. He even offered to write me a medical exemption. (Which he can't do because he doesn't have a medical degree although he works with physicians in Johns Hopkins. He calls them the consensus, scientific, medical authorities. As opposed to the "crazy" anti-vaxxers.)
During the last few years, I found my treatment quite stressful. Early on it became clear. He was terrified of dying of Covid--I was terrified of dying or becoming disabled from vaccines. I viewed the jab as an assault upon my body and the rejection of the unvaccinated as a sign that I was defective and not fit to be accepted by my community. I had nightmares about being attacked for not wearing a mask.
NOTE: I didn't openly reject masking. I just kept forgetting to wear one because it was uncomfortable, and I often forgot to put one on before I left my apartment. We even have signs in my coop near the elevator warning us that Covid is still a problem and we must remember to get boosted, social distance, and MASK UP. Most of us in 2024 are doing none of these things. But quite a few (mostly elderly females) people wear masks on the streets of NY. By the way, you can buy really light comfortable masks with LOTS of holes that allow easy breathing (unmask.com). I have these now for when masking returns. (Yes, you can bet our government will be returning to masking and vaccines to control "Disease X")
I believe my anxiety/depression about being vulnerable as an unvaccinated person in New York City was clearly a sign of mental illness. It didn't CAUSE mental illness. Just worsened preexisting vulnerabilities. My therapist tried to address this by assuring me I could still remain in treatment despite our policy differences. He did this in 2016 when he treated many Trump supporters--despite despising this man and his administration.
My medical doctor refused to write me a medical exemption or sympathize when our mayor stated that NYC was a great city but the unvaccinated didn't deserve it--so he was banning us from restaurants, museums, movies, sports, gyms. Banning us from all shows and entertainments. "What do you care," she told me. "You never go out anyway." (I'm an 80 year old female with chronic fatigue and lots of psychosomatic problems. Too exhausted to eat out, socialize, travel. I'm not a grandmother, though, so perhaps not deserving of any special care.)
NOTE: I visited another psychotherapist who also refused to discuss my fear of vaccines. "But you know everything about vaccines (I took IPAK vaccine history course, read every substack every book, every medical paper denouncing vaccines) and I know nothing. How could I help you?" I think this refusal is interesting. Based on my experience, I think it's necessary to separate emotion from "facts." Facts are irrelevant when dealing with fear, paranoia, distrust. Hate the sin--love the sinner.
I sympathize with all the terrified people so scared of getting or giving infections. I have a cousin whose son is expecting a baby in a few weeks. He's so proud and happy and NERVOUS. He wants to protect his unborn (soon to be born) son. He has vowed to always wear a mask and to always have his baby son wear a mask--and keep their bodily contact to a minimum to prevent any germs or viruses from infecting the baby. NOTE: This man was vaccine damaged at age 8 from flu vaccine. He developed seizures and had to detox. His mother is a very FEARFUL/NERVOUS nutritionist who is staunch anti-vaxx. He, on the other hand, believes in "following the science." Shall we speculate about how "rationality" keeps this man (now a computer programmer) from getting overwhelmed by fear?
I'm curious, Dr. McDonald. What is your stance about treating patients whose religious, sexual, political preferences are very different from your own? When does a patient become "untreatable" due to "countertransference"?
I found substack as a community to support my FEAR concerning shame and rejection. I recently managed to persuade my therapist to discuss my fear. Formerly, two therapists insisted there was nothing to discuss because the TRUTH was that vaccines are safe and effective and my fear of governor Hochul invading my apartment and banishing me to jail or the hospital was paranoia! (Yeah, so can we treat my paranoia please? Oh but it's impossible to get rid of delusions just by simply denouncing them.)
Thanks for your excellent IPAK course which I enjoyed. And also thanks for Fullscript supplements which diminished my insomnia. And thanks for this substack!
I watched a really long interview with Dr. Jon Uhler who studies psychopathy. He talks near the end about the necessity to destroy family values and to devalue sexual faithfulness. This discussion made me think of commonalities of our dystopian novels with people rotating sexual partners or being "assigned" partners. Dr. Uhler spoke at length about transsexual surgeries which he considers a form of sexual abuse. He stated the trans movement really took off in 2013 when DSM 5 made gender affirming surgeries and treatments billable. He said that take away the profit motive and no more trans movement. He works in prisons with sexual offenders (psychopaths) and also works with sexual "survivors." He believes a LOT of young people who want to transition are actually sexually abused young females (especially) who are wanting to change their sex to magically erase the possibility of abuse. Signs are eating disorder, self cutting, suicidality. Here's a link to the interview on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwgoIx7vPTs&list=TLPQMDQwMjIwMjQZK9-xOp-ISg&index=8
Here's a link to his blog. https://www.survivorsupport.us/ The article featured on the blog is the failure to recognize mental illness in trans children. The medical professionals rush straight to puberty blockers and surgeries without detailed psychiatric evaluations. He believes a lot of these children are suffering from untreated trauma from sexual abuse. He believes the "gender affirming" surgeries are another form of sexual abuse. He presents this viewpoint again in the last 40 minutes of his YouTube video.
I LOVE the idea of abolishing trans surgeries by removing the DSM 5 diagnosis that made it possible to cover them with insurance. No profit--no treatments. It will never happen.
I spoke with him at a fundraiser in Bel Air last year, before my book came out. My speaking and writing on mass delusional psychosis here in the US long preceded that of Matias Desmet, who focuses more on psychological processes in Europe related to totalitarianism. Thanks to Joe Rogan, his name has spread far and wide, although I believe my book covers the phenomenon here in the US in much more detail. I would certainly be happy to speak with RFK Jr on The Defender, if he extends an invitation.
Your last line is so powerful. I have felt since the very start of the new virus hysteria that we would be in a mental crisis. I just spent the last 2 weeks helping my daughter move to Florida from Seattle for a new job. She is a therapist for at risk kids/families. In Seattle she was forced to counsel these families who were in crisis with a mask on her face and masks on theirs. it was devastating. As much as she loved working with these families, she finally had to leave. I have basically left Seattle as well because more than 75% of children that i see in public are masked. It is horrific. Even educators that I know who don't like the practice tell me that they "don't want to make waves". To me it's so clearly child abuse and I am floored at how many people that I thought were compassionate are going along with this. I am currently in Arizona a my "freedom house' where it is MOSTLY sane. However, last night we attended an outdoor festival where there was a group of young Girl Scouts selling cookies. The little girls were the only masked people there. It was so sad and I told the adult there that I would love to buy cookies from smiling faces but I would have to pass today. She just shrugged. Thank you SO much for focusing on this massive societal issue! I agree this is not over yet. We must scream from the rooftops. NEVER AGAIN.
This is really a black and white issue--there is no grey. The degree of mental illness is staggering, and it will continue once the mandates end.
Mental illness is increasing--wouldn't you say? It wasn't CAUSED by mask mandates. But our society somewhat destroys close communal bonds that might protect people against scapegoating, fear, social anxieties, etc. (Read Matthias Desmet) Also we are losing our democracy. I sympathize with those experiencing and feeling a threat to their lives. But I have no sympathies with Big Pharma, Big Government, and the Medical/Military Industrial complex. Because they have no sympathies or loyalties with their citizens. No matter how much myocarditis, cancer, paralysis, strokes, blood clots, deaths--it's all "for our own good" and the benefits outweigh the risks. In the words of Frank Yeomans, psychiatrist at Columbia University, "Please do not inflict your goodness on us!"
Amen! Fear has overtaken so many. My current governor Jay Inslee is expected to announce an end to indoor mask mandates today ( we will see...). I am concerned that so many in WA state will still continue. My sister reports that the teenagers at the school she teaches at are "terrified" at the prospect of removing masks. Healing will take time. And I am hoping that those who did this will be held accountable.
How is smallpox spread? Is it even aerosolized?
I agree that masking children is child abuse, and masks all day to be allowed to work are cruel and unhealthy .. and masking outdoors is absolutely absurd - even if a mask gave substantial protection in any direction, when the effective area is literally infinite, there's nothing to protect from. It's heartbreaking to see so many masks outdoors, and on children (in NYC). Yet when I ride the subway / bus, I put on an N95. Not out of blind compliance with authorities I don't trust, but because I'm weighing various factors, and even tho I'm less sure it does anything protective, even on the chance it does, the factors of density, duration, draft, dimensions (and personal health and elderly parents), point to even a slight protection being worth it.
When people cough on the train, I feel better that I have that mask on. I take it off the second I get outside. There is some ambiguity even among the doctors who know the official narrative is bullshit as to if masks can be useful sometimes, or are completely ineffective. Dr Meryl Nass says N95s do something, if fitted right, while cloth / surgical masks don't do anything. The many studies in a long Brownstone article on masks have mixed results for N95s. Dr. Pierre Kory points out that mask studies often don't differentiate for type of space, and in some indoor spaces they could be useful.
Online I've seen a lot of derision for people who wear masks. But - believe it or not - it's possible to wear masks (indoors), and also understand the factors of deception and control and abuse that are happening. I have treatments at home in case I get covid, but I still really don't want that lab created virus.
I also understand that even tho I find it simple enough to wear a mask for a half hour train ride or store trip, that cannot map onto someone else's experience of masking, especially not for long periods of time - and expecting people to basically live / go to school in masks is horrible.
I might be wrong that an N95 does something, it might not do anything at all .. and seeing how little to no credible evidence there is for most masks to do anything, and how much control they are taking, as if we are cattle, I understand better that those who refuse masks even briefly are coming from a solid place of refusing to comply.
But do masks automatically equal being delusional? Perhaps depends on the situation ...?
You are making thoughtful remarks here. Without rehashing the data that shows unequivocally that mask-wearing offers minimal to no benefit in protecting against the transmission of respiratory viral illness, allow me to propose two thought exercise questions:
1. What exactly are you protecting against by wearing a mask?
2. What is the cost (physical, psychological, social) to wearing a mask?
I believe these two questions are quite important and nearly universally ignored by most Americans, who are guided by irrational fear to the exclusion of all else.
Thanks for your response and questions ...
1. What exactly are you protecting against by wearing a mask?
Going on the assumption that there is some, minimal protection, I'm hoping to protect against - An amorphous inflammatory condition that's difficult to treat and can continue to seriously sabotage life, energy, cognition and movement, potentially lifelong. I make similar calculations when in forests, choosing to both be in nature and do my best to avoid ticks in areas with lyme ticks.
Something about the way covid (& lyme) can stay with people and interfere with so many aspects of life = I don't want to get them. Lyme may(?) have also came from a lab, and that may explain the similarities. I see risk calculation for a lab altered virus that many don't fully recover from very different than cold / flu.
Of course early treatment makes long covid less likely, and I am prepared. But I still don't want to get this thing. Yet, if I did, if an N95 could make a difference in amount of infectious dose / viral inoculum - that could be the difference in being able to fully knock it out with HCQ + IVM + the other FLCCC first line therapies, or having a higher viral load with more risk of lasting damage, and needing to expand the kitchen sink to five - seven+ pharmaceutical drugs, which even if they got me through covid, could take their toll on these tired kidneys.
When severity of infection has to do with infectious dose, if a mask could potentially lessen infectious dose - that's enough to make it worth it to me (as long as it's a situation where infection can potentially occur). I'm not going to wear a seatbelt sitting on my couch, and I'm not going to wear a mask outdoors, because there is no there-there, but indoors there is, especially depending on density / draft / dimensions / how many people pass through the space ... )
I also don't want to get anyone sick. I visit my parents and am there for long enough duration that if I was sick and didn't yet know it, they could get sick (I certainly don't trust their "safe and effective" "vaccines" to protect them, and Mom doesn't trust covid treatments).
I try to balance and evaluate, mitigate risks when they're there, and realize when they aren't there.
2. What is the cost (physical, psychological, social) to wearing a mask?
I know there are physical costs to mask wearing, including respiratory and dental. I don't know how long one needs to be in the mask for those costs to become close to significant. The costs are probably much worse for masks worn for hours at a time. I'm going on the assumption that the longer one is in the mask, the physical + psychological costs go up, and the potential effectiveness drops, because of the duration factor. (Hence the absolute insanity of masking children in school).
For masking maybe a few days a month, (sometimes to take the train to protests), of duration ranging from apx 10 minutes - one hour, I don't think I'm doing much harm from breathing constriction. I do wonder about things inhaled (and I'd love to know more about graphene from reliable sources). (More to say on having looked into this but need to make comment shorter)
There's the shameful cost to the planet also ... (Although N95s can be reused, mine are still in good condition after occasional use for almost a year)
This from Dr Kory was a main thing I considered in what I thought about masks, as I was realizing that this is much more sinister than pharma's financial greed ignoring collateral damage - https://covid19criticalcare.com/guide-for-this-website/masks-clearing-up-the-confusion/
This says that even if studies show no effectiveness, there still could be effectiveness for finite periods of time, and that may not be clear on the studies. (Although this was written in January 2021.) When asked about changing recommendations of masking on last Wednesday's webinar, he said they're considering it, but there still may be times masks would be recommended, esp. if many people in a small space.
Psychological costs, I think, depends on if one is forced to or making a choice based on risk /benefit calculation (even if it's ultimately incorrect, it's still weighing variables thoughtfully and making a decision - not being disconnected to an unclear reason like "because covid", or "because they tell me to").
Psychological costs would increase with duration also .. True, I am mildly frustrated and can't wait to get off the train on anything but the shortest rides, yet others wear masks all day, and ultimately I don't see my half hour as that big a deal.
Social costs - Yes, there have been social costs to everyone wearing face diapers / duck masks ... (especially for children). Transit rides were feeling dystopian for years, with everyone on their phones .. I try to make eye contact and say polite hellos ... humans / mammals were meant to see faces, yes, and all the masked faces are sad and another level of dystopia.
Masks do divide and put a layer of distance between humans, and an undercurrent of stress. I'm reluctantly willing to look like a duck if it might make a difference in if / or how severe, I got / passed on this disease. If anything has elevated risk from density / dimensions and (lack of) draft, it's public transit. I do love being at protests, when we are outdoors and there are few or no masks, and it almost feels like .. humans being humans again ...
Hope this makes sense .. feel free to ask other questions / forgive slow replies. Thank you for your questions, and all your work. The parallels to what's going on and abusive dynamics are so clear .. voices of mental health professionals willing to speak out are necessary and sacred ...
Love your reasonable approach. I recommend vitamin D3 at least 4000 IU daily. Dr. Mercola states that people whose blood levels were 50 and above never get Covid. I believe that's too strong a statement. NEVER? Also high dose vitamin C. I take up to bowel tolerance: 4 or 5 grams daily. But if you are concerned about aerosolized spread you MUST spray your nasal passages with provodone iodine such as CofxRx. (See Dr. Peter McCollough's product) Iodine renders viruses ineffective. EVEN BETTER than a mask. Reduce your viral load--and you reduce the risk of spread/transmission. Carry the little spray bottle in your purse--and spray before and leaving the subway car. At first I felt unprotected when I discarded my masks. Now, I totally don't care. I can be like a sardine in the crowded rush hour subway system of NYC. (2 or 3 times weekly). The reason for feeling nervous is because wearing a mask reduced your fears somewhat. NOW if you DON'T wear it--those fears will return in full force. But after a while the fear will diminish. My fear of rejection has still not diminished a whole lot., however. And hiding my face won't help. All your post makes sense for sure!
NOTE: I have not been sick AT ALL. (Well just a tiny sore throat for about 3 or 4 days) during the last 3-4 years. I'm 81 now. Crippled by arthritis YES Crippled by Covid-NO.
Incidentally, what do you think about the ability of N95 masks to filter out tiny viral particles? Is there a good enough seal between the edges of the mask and your face? The administrator of my chiropractor's office was wearing a loose fitting N95 mask that left at least a 1/2 inch gap between her face and the mask. When I pointed this out, she replied, "At least my nose is protected!" I bet there was at least a placebo effect.
There is also a placebo effect for my therapist who frequently travels on airplane flights to China, India, Japan, and Australia where he trains and supervises other psychotherapists. He inserts a straw under the bottom of his mask so he can safely sip water during his flight.
I submitted a cartoon caption to the New Yorker. Each week they publish a cartoon without a caption. One week the cartoon showed a woman cringing away from a giant ant sitting next to her on the aisle seat. I submitted this caption:
"Oh God! I TOLD you not to get that fourth booster!"
In the business world we use cost/benefit analysis every day. For some reason when it comes to this health issue our health leaders have thrown cost/benefit and risk / reward out the window. To me the chance of getting a cold or flu (assuming masking works) is such a small risk compared to communicating to people without a face. I try to ask the Pro- maskers that I know to just pause and ask themselves deeply- why?
Actually costs/benefits are evaluated VERY DIFFERENTLY. If you are a global predator wishing to diminish the world's population, costs/benefits will look very different than if you are a frail, sickly elderly person with COPD, heart transplant, etc. I am practicing being able to state "risks" or "benefits" in a very emotionless way. It helps me since it seems the world doesn't see any of the risks or benefits the way I do. I'm trying not to freeze my heart. I want to keep experiencing all the pain/fear/anger so that I have no emotional mask between me and others. I won't necessarily BELIEVE that Covid is an existential threat, and everything else pales in significance.
Check out Sage Hana's substack. https://sagehana.substack.com/
She sells some hilarious t shirts. One t shirt shows a person dying in the subway with a vaccine syringe in his arm. Passenger next to him says, "I guess that means it's working" Or person dead with jab sticking out of his arm: "I'm grateful it could have been so much worse!" Or nurse brandishing a syringe over a kneeling patient with their butt up in the air "Calm down victims!"
https://sage-hana-productions.printify.me/products
Masks mask more than the virus hysteria. They are symbolic of a general atmosphere of denial which masks all sorts of psychopathology. There seems to be kind of a permissiveness agreed on to cave not only to this hysteria but to a more generalized one.
Unfortunately the hysteria doesn’t stop at virus related issues. Confusion reigns so supreme that the over stressed are collapsing into denial and poor coping skills. I notice this in parents and their young children and this is among families who don’t mask or vaccinate and understand the deceptions involved.
Parents do without sleep, without self care, fall deeper into poverty, become less able to perceive of or take advantage of available resources, begin home schooling and begin a descent into madness. The kids follow suit as delusion reigns and any reasonable environment disappears.
The descent seems impossible to stop and doesn’t bode well for any sort of reasonable future.
This article points at deeply systemic layers of pre-existing and ever deepening mental illness. Opportunities for accessing professional care are really nearly nonexistent. Families can help but they too are limited. A civilization simply doesn’t tip into madness and chaos without these.
I'm considering printing out this one and the one you sent to your patients for the next time I have to visit the insane asylum that is a medical establishment which requires face diapers (all of them) and handing it to whomever I'm seeing. "This is my perspective too. Just wanted you to know."
I'm mentally ill. I would be too scared of rejection to do this! HOWEVER, I don't wear any masks. But if asked (secret rebellion) I have masks that are very light with lots and lots of holes. They don't protect against Covid--but they DO protect against rejection.
Fully on-board with what you wrote here and what you stand for, Dr. McDonald. Thank you for both. You're one of my personal heroes. As a fellow resident of Los Angeles, I'm also disheartened, disgusted, and saddened by seeing face masks everywhere I go. I'm in the Koreatown part of the city, and I scan for someone, anyone, who is maskless like me, and I only remember seeing perhaps 5 people in two years (excluding those dining at restaurants) who are maskless. I'm harrassed occasionally at some establishments to wear a mask. The worst is that my youngest daughter wears one and makes her son, my grandson, wear one. They both have a collection of stretchy cloth ones in various colors and designs, and it makes me feel sick. But I won't let this ruin my day. I will continue to go maskless everywhere I go and be happy that I was fortunate enough to be able to see through all of this BS and understand the agenda of the elites (totalitarian global control) and choose freedom over fear. I do need to get out of Los Angeles, because the daily weight of being surrounded by brainwashed face diaper-wearing zombies gets to me and wears on my joy in living. As another poster mentioned, I too want to smile at, make eye contact with and say hello to passersby, but few will engage with a stranger, and many cross the street rather than to pass near me because I'm maskless when I go for walks. Could it be because of my MAGA hat?
Jk. I don't own one. Sigh.
If only it were the hat...
On a beautiful brisk day in my hometown of Berkeley this week, I spotted a woman on my block perched on a retaining wall and looking intently at me while I was walking my dog. I thought maybe she thought she knew me. However, as I crossed the street to get to my house I got a closer look: she had dismounted to take a cigarette break. She then got up, put her mask on, hopped onto her bike and pedaled away. I kid you not.
...with a mask but without a helmet, of course.
I'm in therapy with a good psychotherapist who endorses masking and mRNA vaccines. He DOES NOT endorse vaccine mandates--although he does endorse frequent testing to rule out infection (especially for unvaccinated people). He agreed with my history of drug reactions I shouldn't get vaccinated. He even offered to write me a medical exemption. (Which he can't do because he doesn't have a medical degree although he works with physicians in Johns Hopkins. He calls them the consensus, scientific, medical authorities. As opposed to the "crazy" anti-vaxxers.)
During the last few years, I found my treatment quite stressful. Early on it became clear. He was terrified of dying of Covid--I was terrified of dying or becoming disabled from vaccines. I viewed the jab as an assault upon my body and the rejection of the unvaccinated as a sign that I was defective and not fit to be accepted by my community. I had nightmares about being attacked for not wearing a mask.
NOTE: I didn't openly reject masking. I just kept forgetting to wear one because it was uncomfortable, and I often forgot to put one on before I left my apartment. We even have signs in my coop near the elevator warning us that Covid is still a problem and we must remember to get boosted, social distance, and MASK UP. Most of us in 2024 are doing none of these things. But quite a few (mostly elderly females) people wear masks on the streets of NY. By the way, you can buy really light comfortable masks with LOTS of holes that allow easy breathing (unmask.com). I have these now for when masking returns. (Yes, you can bet our government will be returning to masking and vaccines to control "Disease X")
I believe my anxiety/depression about being vulnerable as an unvaccinated person in New York City was clearly a sign of mental illness. It didn't CAUSE mental illness. Just worsened preexisting vulnerabilities. My therapist tried to address this by assuring me I could still remain in treatment despite our policy differences. He did this in 2016 when he treated many Trump supporters--despite despising this man and his administration.
My medical doctor refused to write me a medical exemption or sympathize when our mayor stated that NYC was a great city but the unvaccinated didn't deserve it--so he was banning us from restaurants, museums, movies, sports, gyms. Banning us from all shows and entertainments. "What do you care," she told me. "You never go out anyway." (I'm an 80 year old female with chronic fatigue and lots of psychosomatic problems. Too exhausted to eat out, socialize, travel. I'm not a grandmother, though, so perhaps not deserving of any special care.)
NOTE: I visited another psychotherapist who also refused to discuss my fear of vaccines. "But you know everything about vaccines (I took IPAK vaccine history course, read every substack every book, every medical paper denouncing vaccines) and I know nothing. How could I help you?" I think this refusal is interesting. Based on my experience, I think it's necessary to separate emotion from "facts." Facts are irrelevant when dealing with fear, paranoia, distrust. Hate the sin--love the sinner.
I sympathize with all the terrified people so scared of getting or giving infections. I have a cousin whose son is expecting a baby in a few weeks. He's so proud and happy and NERVOUS. He wants to protect his unborn (soon to be born) son. He has vowed to always wear a mask and to always have his baby son wear a mask--and keep their bodily contact to a minimum to prevent any germs or viruses from infecting the baby. NOTE: This man was vaccine damaged at age 8 from flu vaccine. He developed seizures and had to detox. His mother is a very FEARFUL/NERVOUS nutritionist who is staunch anti-vaxx. He, on the other hand, believes in "following the science." Shall we speculate about how "rationality" keeps this man (now a computer programmer) from getting overwhelmed by fear?
I'm curious, Dr. McDonald. What is your stance about treating patients whose religious, sexual, political preferences are very different from your own? When does a patient become "untreatable" due to "countertransference"?
I found substack as a community to support my FEAR concerning shame and rejection. I recently managed to persuade my therapist to discuss my fear. Formerly, two therapists insisted there was nothing to discuss because the TRUTH was that vaccines are safe and effective and my fear of governor Hochul invading my apartment and banishing me to jail or the hospital was paranoia! (Yeah, so can we treat my paranoia please? Oh but it's impossible to get rid of delusions just by simply denouncing them.)
Thanks for your excellent IPAK course which I enjoyed. And also thanks for Fullscript supplements which diminished my insomnia. And thanks for this substack!
I watched a really long interview with Dr. Jon Uhler who studies psychopathy. He talks near the end about the necessity to destroy family values and to devalue sexual faithfulness. This discussion made me think of commonalities of our dystopian novels with people rotating sexual partners or being "assigned" partners. Dr. Uhler spoke at length about transsexual surgeries which he considers a form of sexual abuse. He stated the trans movement really took off in 2013 when DSM 5 made gender affirming surgeries and treatments billable. He said that take away the profit motive and no more trans movement. He works in prisons with sexual offenders (psychopaths) and also works with sexual "survivors." He believes a LOT of young people who want to transition are actually sexually abused young females (especially) who are wanting to change their sex to magically erase the possibility of abuse. Signs are eating disorder, self cutting, suicidality. Here's a link to the interview on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwgoIx7vPTs&list=TLPQMDQwMjIwMjQZK9-xOp-ISg&index=8
Here's a link to his blog. https://www.survivorsupport.us/ The article featured on the blog is the failure to recognize mental illness in trans children. The medical professionals rush straight to puberty blockers and surgeries without detailed psychiatric evaluations. He believes a lot of these children are suffering from untreated trauma from sexual abuse. He believes the "gender affirming" surgeries are another form of sexual abuse. He presents this viewpoint again in the last 40 minutes of his YouTube video.
I LOVE the idea of abolishing trans surgeries by removing the DSM 5 diagnosis that made it possible to cover them with insurance. No profit--no treatments. It will never happen.
I spoke with him at a fundraiser in Bel Air last year, before my book came out. My speaking and writing on mass delusional psychosis here in the US long preceded that of Matias Desmet, who focuses more on psychological processes in Europe related to totalitarianism. Thanks to Joe Rogan, his name has spread far and wide, although I believe my book covers the phenomenon here in the US in much more detail. I would certainly be happy to speak with RFK Jr on The Defender, if he extends an invitation.
Sure--I'm in the middle of writing my second book, so I'm only doing a few interviews a week right now.
Very powerful and well-written. Posted it to my FB and Twitter pages.
"Whenever I see someone outside wearing a mask, I feel a fleeting sense of contempt." A young man said that to me recently, and it resonated with me.