Gloria Sánchez Aguilar. Peninsula 360 Press.
Amidst the confusion and chaos of a global pandemic, there is a significant group of people who refuse to wear face masks despite established evidence of their efficacy.
If their emphasis on personal freedom, their misrepresentation of science, and the passion they have for defending their position sounds familiar, it's probably because the tactics have been used for years by another group: the anti-vaccine crowd. The two share important similarities.
First, there is the emphasis on personal choice, freedom and rights. "It's my child, I decide about it," in the case of the antivaccine, and "I have rights. You can't force me to wear a mask," in the case of the mask. Both have taken hold in the context of a cultural moment that emphasizes the individual over the community, self-interest over the common good.
It is no coincidence, then, that pleas to wear a face mask to show respect and protect others, or to get vaccinated to achieve what is commonly known as herd immunity, have fallen on deaf ears. Both movements have also misrepresented and questioned scientific knowledge and, at times, even attacked health experts in an attempt to discredit them.
Antivaccinationists continue to claim that vaccines cause autism, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and antivaccinationists have claimed that wearing a mouthpiece causes carbon dioxide levels to rise to dangerous levels ?not true?
Both anti-vaccine and anti-mouthwash have promoted behaviors, along with the misinformation and mistrust they have sown, that are dangerous, especially at a time when COVID-19 continues to cause thousands of deaths every day and the country faces an uphill battle to convince Americans to wear masks, as well as to get a vaccine against the virus, as there surely will be soon.
The opposition of people to use the mask has to do with their personality traits, the individual way to react to each situation. Resistance to its use can respond to multiple causes, fear, rebellion, confusion, vanity, ignorance, among others. To comply with these measures for some may mean the loss of their freedoms. Or they may feel that they are bowing down to others, showing weakness according to their criteria. When people are told what to do, there is a tendency to question it and resist.
It is the psychological tendency to react to people who tell you what to do. People who have conflicts with authority tend to oppose it, they can not obey orders, they rebel and this is usually gestated since childhood. There is also the negativistic defiant disorder, they are individuals who oppose and defy everything, nothing convinces or satisfies them.
In these and the above, it is entirely predictable that they will object to wearing face shields. People with antisocial personality disorder can be expected to refuse to wear protective gear because they have no social conscience. Some are embarrassed to be seen to be afraid of contagion, they have a misunderstood concept of personal weakness. Some others are those who, under any circumstance, put doubt before unreasoned doubt.
A doubt that goes more through the gut than the brain. They are those who believe that the COVID-19 is an invention, does not exist and is used to control others. Some argue that masks are uncomfortable, being intubated will be much more uncomfortable. At this time, the use of masks not only reduces the risk of contagion, but has also become an act of solidarity among people.
Specialists believe that the aggressive behavior of some can be redirected with education to understand its importance in terms of health, instead of considering it as an imposition. The pandemic is not over, we must not let our guard down. If we have already taken care of ourselves for so many months, why neglect ourselves now? Our life is the most valuable thing we have, along with our youth, the only thing we can't get back.
Let's be aware of this, we are not immortal, the magical thinking of "it won't happen to me" is a denial, there are no foundations to support it. The activation of scenarios to mobilize the economy has generated important outbreaks. Hence the need not to lower our guard. We need to take care of our lives and be in solidarity with our compatriots to stop the contagions.
Gloria Sánchez Aguilar has a degree in Psychology and works as a Psychotherapist.
