For a while it has been known that, contrary to what politicians and their friends in the health-industrial complex would have you believe, face masks do harm. In a piece published in May 2022, former clinical psychologist Dr. Gary Sidley laid out the multiple areas where masks cause trouble. These include: impairing communication; increasing risks of falls for the elderly and frail; aggravating respiratory problems; exposing the wearer to micro-plastics and other contaminants; and retraumatising those who have suffered abuse in the past.
In a wide-ranging and large list of potential pitfalls, perhaps the most worrying area for harm is that of exacerbating mental health conditions. As Dr. Sidley explains, “Many people already tormented by recurrent panic attacks, involving catastrophic thoughts of imminent death and feelings of breathlessness, will find masks very difficult to tolerate.” Mask-wearing could increase anxiety and amplify fears about the prospect of contamination, and, for those on the autistic spectrum, create an expectation and sense of pressure to conform to wearing a face covering.
With these concerns in mind, it is extraordinary to hear that an NHS mental health trust is reiterating its demands to staff, and requesting patients and visitors, to wear a piece of cloth over their mouth and nose.
Lest we forget, the national, top-down NHS directives were changed in June 2022 to remove any mandate for masks. Yet here we are, eight months later, and, as we’ve seen before – for example here and here – local masking policies continue to be made on a whim. This time it’s a provider of mental health and learning disability services – Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust (SPFT) – which remains committed to forcing mask wearing, reminding its staff of the requirements that, “In all clinical areas (including inpatient wards and in the community) all staff are to wear masks, and mask wearing for patients and visitors is to be encouraged.”
Strangely, the use of masks as prevention for the spread of COVID-19 does not appear in SPFT’s Policies for Infection Prevention & Control. The only mention in the official documentation being for “pandemic influenza and sputum-positive pulmonary TB during the first two weeks of treatment”.
Equally perplexing is the lack of any information sharing with the public about masks: the link for ‘Infection Prevention & Control for Patients’ being either broken or the page itself missing.
Framing these requirements within the context of ‘safety’ and conformance with ‘high standards’ of infection control, the SPFT’s Chief Nurse, Teresa Barker, seems to be unaware of the vast body of evidence that supports the statement that masks don’t work and have the potential to harm. Indeed, in the past few days we have seen the publication of the latest – and fifth version – of the Cochrane Review, ‘Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses’. First published in 2007, the current rendition looked at 78 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster-RCTs, with over 610,000 participants, and which, in the words of its lead author, Tom Jefferson, concluded that, “There is just no evidence that they [masks] make any difference. Full stop.”
Surprising as it is that a healthcare professional, tasked with being accountable for infection control and prevention, should be so out of step with significant and up-to-date evidence in her area of expertise, even more of a head-scratcher is the practical situation as it exists ‘on the ground’. As of February 1st, SPFT were “caring for two coronavirus patients in hospital”, down from four the previous week and nine a month earlier. No new Covid patients had been admitted in the week to January 30th. This downward trend in SPFT mirrors the national picture with COVID-19 patients hospitalised nationally decreasing 35% in the past four weeks.
So, there we have it:
• Clear evidence that, especially for those dealing with mental health challenges, masks can harm;
• Clear and compelling evidence that they do nothing positive to stem the transmission of COVID-19;
• No top-down, NHS-wide directive for masking to shelter under;
• No documented public policy within the specific Trust for masking;
• No communication with the public of a need to mask;
• Decreasing numbers of patients in hospital with the virus, both nationally and locally.
Really, support for enforcing mask-wearing seems pretty weak, doesn’t it? Instead, we are left with the sense that instructions for SPFT staff to continue wearing face masks is, as Tom Jefferson observes, about satisfying the urge to “appear to do something”, a complete subversion of the ‘precautionary principle’ that “you should do nothing unless you have reasonable evidence that benefits outweigh the harms”.
Paul Stevens is a member of Smile Free, which campaigns for the end of mask mandates and masking.
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Interesting to see it under a heading related to psychiatry. It seems to me that what we are observing is a typical “something must be done” attitude, regardless of any real evidence. Incidentally, as a private individual, I never used one on the pretext of infection protection, either way.
Ironic. Mentally ill half wits wearing an unhealthy rag, which will make them ill, babbling to their clients about mental health….unbelievable.
No surprise here, note an authoress of the mask nonsense, note the emotion baggage, because we care. Yeh right
I think we have become somewhat inured to this over the last few years but if you stop and think about this, it is mind boggling. You have patients in their most vulnerable state, perhaps in their whole lives, and you rob them of seeing a kind face showing empathy and love. You take away the one thing that might actually help them and for no clinical benefit whatsoever. If you ever needed evidence of how far the medical profession has sunk, then this has to be up there.
I created an account just to post this story about the ongoing battle I have had with Merseycare Trust over this issue. It’s a long story if you choose to take the time to read it all I am grateful.
When the mask mandates where introduced I contacted my local bus and train companies and supermarkets to clarify their position on mask exemptions. They reassured me that I wouldn’t have any difficulties accessing their services. I then contacted my local Merseycare MH Trust who I’ve relied on heavily over the past 15 years to clarify their policy. Again I was reassured that as I was legally exempt I would have no difficulty accessing their services or buildings as I was exempt and this was official policy that would be communicated to staff working for the trust. I felt reassured and I still have a record of the correspondence with the trust telling me this.
Then during a time of extreme crisis I tried to attend in person my local psychology services department (Spring House). I’d been attending this service (a sort of therapeutic community) for 3 or 4 years. I volunteered there as a service user lead for at least a year 4 days a week.
When they found out I wouldn’t be attending with a mask they delayed my urgent crisis appointment for hours while the “team” debated allowing me in. I offered to show them the emails and the official policy shown on the trusts website, they declined to even look. Eventually they relented and let me in.
The next time I attended the service for an assessment (I was extremely suicidal at this point) they offered me an option of two talking therapies, both were group therapies. When I reminded them that I’m exempt from wearing a mask and asked for reassurance that this wouldn’t be a problem attending these groups I was told I would be unable to attend in person without a mask. I pointed out the email correspondence from Infection control informing me that official policy allows me to do this and also that they were in violation of the 2010 Equalities Act. I told them they were breaking discrimination law. They shrugged their shoulders and essentially said tough, they didn’t care. Keep in mind both of these men who ran the service I had known for 3 or 4 years, they were both previous therapists of mine that I trusted implicitly and confided in closely (almost like replacement father figures). It was like a knife in the heart, the betrayal and hurt I felt significantly contributed to my suicidal ideation. It was very frightening to see intelligent people I thought I knew and respected (and respected me in turn) behave in such a callous and irrational way towards me. I felt sick that I’d ever trusted these people with my mental health.
I decided to make an official complaint against the trust.
On the 18/06/20 I sent a letter of complaint and made email contact to PALS at Merseycare after being refused access to Spring House psychotherapy day service.
I was then contacted through email by Infection Control we talked on the phone and an email was sent that reassured me I wouldn’t have any further problems accessing Merseycare buildings. I was assured that the trust had updated their website and sent out communications to staff reminding them that exemptions still apply to Merseycare buildings.
The managers at Spring House then continued to deny me access to the building and after being advised by infection control to contact PALS again I then found myself in the position of having to repeatedly ring and email PALS to try and get a response from them to my original formal complaint.
The decision to not allow me in person contact with the mental health day services I used to rely on (and volunteer for) had an absolutely devastating effect on my mental health and it took over 11 months for them to respond to my initial complaint.
During those 11 months my mental health deteriorated badly, something Spring House was well aware of. It would be difficult to put into words just how devastating all of this has been to me. It was the catalyst that resulted in a complete breakdown from me (around a time I was really starting to do well with my mental health). I think it was the shock, of all the people in the world who I thought would be compassionate and understanding about this issue I thought it would be staff at Spring House and Merseycare Trust. Even Sainsburys supermarket made me feel more safe and welcome (they had messages on the tannoy reminding shoppers to be mindful that some people not wearing masks have hidden disabilities). What has it come to when supermarkets are more understanding and reasonable than a MH Trust?
(Continued)
I completely lost faith in the service. I lost faith in people. I strongly felt that if mental health care professionals would not accept my mask exemption on the grounds of mental health than no one would. I became terrified of judgement from other people. If the mental health services could be this harsh and discriminatory then what kind of judgement will I face from strangers?
I became very very isolated, sometimes going 8 weeks at a time without any human contact at all. I started having severe panic attacks. I eventually reached a point where I was too afraid to leave the house by myself and do basic things like go shopping or pick up medication for fear of judgement and lack of understanding from others. I developed agoraphobia and for the first time in my life a drug addiction. I became addicted to anti-anxiety drugs as sometimes they were the only way I could manage to do something as simple as food shopping by myself.
One of the more dangerous consequences of the decision made my Merseycare is that I became too afraid to access any kind of healthcare at all. I didn’t feel that I was legally allowed to access healthcare or I was terrified they would treat me badly because of my mask exemption. I ignored multiple letters for things like smear tests or checkups from my GP because I was too scared to attend with an exemption in case they treated me badly or refused to treat me at all. There were also numerous occasions in the past three years after self harm or suicide attempts that I badly needed medical attention but was too frightened of ill treatment (or no treatment) to seek the care I needed. In December last year an untreated UTI led to a severe kidney infection that eventually left me in hospital for a week because I delayed seeking help for too long out of fear.
I became severely depressed, began self harming again and attempted to take my own life on several occasions. I was sectioned at least once and hospitalised several times (often being taken there forcibly by the police because of the fear I developed over seeking medical care). All of this damage and emotional distress (that the trust is well aware of) as a result of the decision made by Merseycare to deny me access to healthcare at the time in my life when I desperately needed it the most.
I actually ended up finding out that my complaint had not been upheld in a letter sent to me by the Dr who runs the service I made the complaint against. I did eventually receive a response from PALS; but this was a week after I had to find out from the person I complained against in the first place, when I pointed this out to them I got no reply. In the same letter he defined my complaint as an “act of hostility” against him. I warned that any further “hostility” on my behalf would result in being discharged from MH services all together. I was essentially threatened by him for daring to make a complaint.
If you look on the Merseycare website they clearly state their policy on mask exemptions which is completely contradicting the letter they sent out to me, yet I was still denied access to the building. I am at a loss to be able to understand how they can violate their own stated policy and government guidelines on mask exemptions and have a legal leg to stand on since they claim they consulted their own legal team in the response I got from PALS?
I did contact a national legal advice line over all of this and they told me that because my case has a less than 50% chance of winning in court they would not provide me with legal aid to pursue the case. I have no funds to hire a solicitor independently. The anger over the injustice I’ve experienced is eating me up on a daily basis and honestly, I want to fight back, I want those bastards to pay for what they’ve done. I want them to know I’m not taking this lying down. I want them to understand that what they have done is immoral and illegal. Ultimately they made me lose what little faith I had left in the inherent goodness of people and I am constantly overwhelmed with despair and suicidal thoughts. The whole experience was so exhausting and dehumanising that it almost broke me. I don’t feel like the same person anymore.
Hey there. I didn’t want to read and run, but just a quick reply to thank you for sharing your experience. You are so articulate and candid in your writing that you convey your feelings extremely well. I hope somebody can be of more practical help than me but please, don’t despair and don’t stop checking in here. You’re amongst like-minded people and i hope you keep posting. Sending you strength..
Thankyou for your kind words, and for taking the time to read my story.
This is my first time posting but I’ve been lurking here for a while now. Just reading other people’s comments makes me feel a little less alone and helps heal a little bit.
Thank you so much for posting about your horrific experiences – I am so sorry you have had to go through all this. I think we have all been through losing faith in the essential goodness of people, although your experience has been more extreme than most. Please know, though, that although most people have been captured by the delusion and the lies, there are many of us that have seen through it and stand with you. I’m not going to give you advice, but I will say that my impression is that people have generally found going down the legal route to be very frustrating, and perhaps futile, as the courts are just as captured as the medical profession. I wish you better times and hope you feel the love from this community.
Thankyou for taking the time to read my story. I think more than anything that’s all I’ve wanted these past few years, just to be heard, to be seen. Everything I see or hear “it’s just a mask” I want to scream. I just want people to know that mask mandates can indeed do terrible long lasting harm to people.
And yes sadly I have given up on pursuing legal action. I’m no longer shocked that basic laws around human rights and things like disability discrimination laws can be trampled on by health trusts with zero consequences considering the mass murder we have witnessed in the past few years.
I think it’s more the shock of the people doing this to me still being in complete denial that they’ve done anything wrong. They destroyed my mental health and now I’m supposed to rely on them for future “care”.
Hi … I’m really sorry to hear of your experiences. What you describe sounds incredibly hard to deal with.
If it would help, please feel free to contact Smile Free at info@smilefree.org. We can’t guarantee that we can help you gain some form of satisfaction from the people who have acted so appallingly towards you, but we are very interested in learning more so that we can look into how we might assist you in holding the feet of those responsible to the fire.
Hi, thankyou for taking the time to read my story. It’s therapeutic for me to just get it out there and even have just a few people see it. I did contact you guys before (a few months back) but I didn’t get any reply.
I might send this story to you again though. I understand what’s happened can’t be undone but I think it’s important that stories like mine are heard. It infuriates me the way people continue to pretend that mask mandates are a completely harmless intervention when they have harmed so many vulnerable people (so much for protecting the vulnerable eh?).
Unfortunately the people most harmed by them are often not in the position to be able to advocate for themselves so I think the work you are doing is so important.
I find myself 100% in agreement with you! Well said.
Please do drop us a line again so we have your email and can reply.
At the beginning of the Corona-circus, I remember reading an article in the Guardian (I still regularly read at that time) which contained bits of an interview with a so-called medical professional. One could almost hear the ugly glee in his voice when he stated that (paraphrase) People’s mental health issues will now have to remain on the backseat for a long time.
I spent all of lockdown, ie, any form of closure or restriction of the hospitality industry which is my sole point of contact with other people, with taking long, solitary walks in the dead of the night as everything else, including talking to people in the street – not that I’m usually inclined to do that, had been prohibited. I think I racked up about 3500km when I stopped counting.
Look at it in this way: Despite the enormous amount of money the government put into this (“Look them in the eyes!” etc), they’ve not managed to terrorize you into Sars-CoV2 paranoia, something they easily accomplished with the mental health professionals you had been dealing with. You’re much stronger than these people.
That’s the irony of the entire situation. I have a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (please don’t recoil, we aren’t all abusive loons!) so I’m supposed to be the irrational one.
I’m supposed to be the one ruled by emotion instead of logic, yet it felt like the roles had completely reversed and I was the rational adult in the room. It was a truly bizarre “invasion of the body snatchers” experience. They are utterly convinced my complaint against them was a manifestion of my personality disorder.
I know of another person who was sectioned for her ‘irrational & deluded’ thoughts which are entirely commonplace here BTL. She was rescued by an awake GP & other awake folk in the care community.
I was sectioned on one occasion during the second lockdown. I strongly suspect that voicing my distress during the MH assesment at how many people were being killed by government covid policies influenced their decision. They wrote in my notes that I was somewhat delusional.
That is exactly the same reasoning for my acquaintance’s section!
I have a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (please don’t recoil, we aren’t all abusive loons!) so I’m supposed to be the irrational one.
Hmm … is this a diagnosis or an insult? In any case, I don’t judge people based an labels others put onto them. I’ve been labelled as too many silly things myself to fall for that, out of control maniac who’s a danger to himself (written in very small print) and others (boldface in very large print) among them.
Hello, I cannot help but think you are far more a credit to the human race than those amotional bastards you’ve had to deal with at Merseycare. Treating a vulnerable person like you in such an abusive manner demonstrates only their pig ignorance and their delight in sadistic behaviour. The covid hysteria has had these incompetents crawling out from under the rocks they normally inhabit. Unfortunately it’s a common attitude for those in the NHS who believe they are not restricted in their atrocious behaviour because they’re working in “the envy of the world”.
Carry on being strong and all the best for your future
Great Post. Very good point re your last paragraph and so true.
That is one horrific tale of the abject failure of purported healthcare professionals. As others have said, you’ve come out of this with your critical thinking faculties intact, have not bowed to terrorism (yes, the propaganda, mandates etc are acts of terrorism as defined in the Geneva Convention & a Liberty report from the 1970s) & have resilience. You should be incredibly proud of this achievement. Because of what you’ve been through, you will have changed & the change will be ongoing whilst you process & deal with the fall out from it all.
If you’re on Telegram you can find some support for your health, all aspects including mental health, on The People’s Health Alliance site. They have regular zoom meetings. It is also worth looking at their website to see if there is a PHA Hub local to you & see what resources they can offer.
You’re among friends here
BB
https://the-pha.org/
https://t.me/ThePeoplesHealthAlliance
Thankyou so much for this. I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that I can’t expect my mental health to improve by being “cared” for by the same people who inflicted this cruelty and trauma on me in the first place. It sounds obvious but I have severe mental health issues and relying on MH services for support is all I’ve ever known.
Now I know the lunatics are officially running the asylum. I realise I have to expand my support network.
I will check out those resources outThanks
I should also have given you links to the World Council for Health as they too have zoom support sessions which may be helpful for you, these tend to be one offs & their website has lots of useful info too.
https://t.me/wch_org
https://worldcouncilforhealth.org/
Hi,
sent you a reply but did it as a new comment by mistake, you will see it further down.
There are still many NHS Trusts up and down the country who will happily force highly experienced nurses and medical staff out of their jobs, unless they wear a useless surgical mask for a 12+ hour shift. These officious power-drunk minions are destroying people’s careers over a mask. It is insanity. As I always say, it’s not about infection control, it’s about POWER and control.
If you, or anyone you know, needs support on this issue. Head to https://workersofengland.co.uk who are actively challenging and fighting this nonsense. The only national union to be doing this and fighting for its members in the workplace. (You can join from Scotland and Wales too).
I have no direct observations on health settings, but I regularly attend events in education settings (secondary and tertiary). As of last week there was still a lot of signage, a number of hand sanitizers and there are many, many arrows but nobody has tried to enforce anything in person on me. One of the dog-eared posters I saw yesterday in a university was the classic mask poster “I protect you; you protect me.” Nifty advert design; nonsense science. And nobody, not even the staff, were masked nor have they been for months. It’s as though nobody dare issue the order to remove the trappings of The Lockdown, lest it offend The Party.
I went for a breast scan at a Leicestershire Hospital Trust premises yesterday and they were insisting on everyone wearing a mask. Saw a number of staff only wearing it over their mouth
Mask wearing has become a post code lottery. The NHS made the lazy and cowardly – but predictable – decision back in June to ‘delegate’ authority to individual trusts (and even individual entities within trusts, e.g. GP surgeries) for imposing masks on staff and patients/visitors.
Now we have a situation where if a particular individual, of any rank within the establishment, from receptionist to CEO, decides they are a ‘good thing’, they can force them on others.
It’s a charter for petty tyrants and closet totalitarians (all dressed up in the virtue signalling BS of ‘doing the right thing).
On another note. LHT have taken over some floors in care homes to use as interim discharge wards for the frail and elderly. I was asked to visit a woman in her 90s to help source a residential home for her.
She was deaf and had poor site. I was told I had to wear a mask although again all the staff on the floor (NHS employed staff) were only wearing their masks over their mouths.
She had no idea what I was trying to say to her across a table.
I moved and sat close to her and took my mask off. We could then slowly communicate.
What a dreadful environment for the elderly and frail to be in.
Total barstewards. Thank goodness for your kindness & compassion.
Malign stupidity – mask mandates were one of the reasons I have ceased working for the NHS and in care and support. Now in private practice. I’m a mental health practitioner and continue to be appalled by the actions of my ex-colleagues and NHS Trusts. The so called Government could end this madness tomorrow, but clearly does not want too. Obvious why. Another absurdity is that I’m not alone in leaving the NHS because of this – thus Trusts will continue to struggle for staff whilst they pursue such dystopian practices.
In my email this morning was an advertisement from ‘Northern Trains’.
The title line included the words ‘Face covering needed on board’.
Quite pathetic.
Mental Health Trust…. Clue in its name perhaps?
The NHS mental health service is providing mental health services!
Hi,
Sorry to hear about your experiences with masks and health services. I have had issues with my GP and other NHS services regarding my mask exemption. Letters and reassurances meant nothing when it came to in person appointments. The only thing that helped me was attending astandinthepark.org/uk. Every Sunday 10-11 am. You can look up your nearest group. The people I met there were so supportive with lots of advice and practical help. Our group is very diverse, lots of differing opinions, all of them allowed, there is no judgement, it is so good to be able to talk freely. We always have a good laugh as well.
I don’t think it is difficult to decode. It comes from a rather desolate cultural position to begin with. The sense that things aren’t going well thus we all wear the costume to say so. It is perfectly understandable why weak people would adopt this as a plea for a better world and the overlords lap it up because they rely on generalisations. You don’t break this spirit by just taking the piss you also have to rejuvenate a life worth living. I guarantee you if you can wake that up again then people won’t give two hoots about masks. If yu can paint for them a more beautiful picture then they will happily follow your tune.