A woman has sparked a furious debate online after revealing she was shouted at in public after entering an airport without a facemask – despite the fact that she’s exempt due to PTSD.
The anonymous poster, from the UK, wrote that the PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome) is a result of trauma in a post she experienced 10 years ago, and took to Mumsnet to beg readers to stop shaming people who don’t wear masks.
Her post divided opinion online, with many agreeing that it is unfair to shame people who may be suffering from an invisible condition, while others claimed that her reasons ‘weren’t valid’.
The anonymous poster revealed that they struggle to wear a mask due to past trauma, but some respondents were unsympathetic
The post read: ‘I am genuinely exempt, I have PTSD from something that happened in my teenage years. I do however wear masks when I don’t have my glasses on, but when I wear my glasses, I can’t cope with both a mask and not being able to see with foggy glasses.
The poster went on to explain that she had gone to Heathrow airport to collect her sister, who she hadn’t seen for almost four years, off a flight from Australia and needed to wear glasses to see her.
It continued: ‘I was looking around and I noticed a man who was already stood at least 10 feet away move further away from me. I just raised my eyebrows and walked away to stand elsewhere and then he started shouting at me to wear a mask. I told him to get lost and he carried on shouting at me across arrivals at Heathrow to wear a mask. I just ignored him and moved away.
‘With the benefit of hindsight I wish I explained to him why I’m not wearing one, but I shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t have a random man shouting at me at the airport to wear one.
Begging readers to be more understanding, she added: ‘It completely ruined my mood upon being reunited with my sister, and I shouldn’t have been shamed like that.’
A number of commentators felt the poster should not be exempt from wearing a mask because she has PTSD, with some calling her ‘selfish’
Some said they felt the poster isn’t exempt from mask wearing, or could take steps to ensure they could wear one, with one commentator writing: ‘You are not exempt if you can wear a mask without your glasses.
‘Thousands of people wear masks and glasses and just have to deal with the annoyance of their glasses steaming up.’
Another agreed: ‘Sorry I agree with the above if you can wear a mask without glasses then I wouldn’t consider you “exempt”.’
A third said: ‘OP – can you give a legitimate reason why you wouldn’t just put some tape across bridge of nose to stop glasses fogging ? Or use contacts?
‘Why put yourself and others at risk of death because you can’t be bothered to do these simple things?’
But others agreed with the mother and slammed the man for attacking her, arguing that he wouldn’t have picked on another man
However, others were more sympathetic, and felt that the man who shouted at the poster was being unreasonable.
One respondent wrote: ‘People are going to have to learn to manage their own risk soon anyway (and misogynistic men will have to find another reason to have a go at random women when out and about).’
Another agreed, adding: ‘He wouldn’t have done it if the OP was a man.’
A third said: ‘You should not have to explain yourself to this vile individual. If you’re not exempt or you’re exempt – who is he to judge whether or not your reason for being exempt is reasonable. Maybe get a sunflower lanyard (a universal sign for an invisible disability) and wear it in those situations, people tend to recognise them and leave you alone.’
0ther users on Mumsnet shared how their PTSD affected their ability to wear a mask, as well as explaining the struggles of having a hidden disability
And other users on Mumsnet shared how their PTSD affected their ability to wear a mask.
One user wrote: ‘I can’t believe the hysteria here two years on. Posters thinking they have the right to discern who or who isn’t exempt just by looking at a total stranger.
‘I’ve posted this on another thread before, but I’m exempt due to PTSD from nearly drowning. Anything covering my airway brings on a panic attack, I can’t even wear a scarf round my neck. I have had medication and counselling, and use the techniques I’ve learned to manage a mask for going into a shop for 10 minutes. Does that suddenly make me no longer exempt? No.
‘If we were in a position that people were fined for not wearing a mask, I would simply appeal with my vast medical records and get it waived. That said, I try my best, I actually think it’s good for me to practice the techniques and head off a full blown panic attack caused by a mask – the incident happened 10 years ago, I am improving, but still affected.
‘People can shove their judgement up their a***** as far as I’m concerned. it must be so stressful feeling so entitled to control what other people do and having them not do what you want all the time.’
Another added: ‘Amazing how many people claim to know the OP’s disability better than she knows it herself.’
For one group of commentators, while they were sympathetic to the poster and her reasons for not wearing a mask, they said understanding goes two ways and it’s worth thinking about why people who get anxious around non-mask wearers feel the way they do
Others felt that those who don’t wear masks for whatever reason should be more sympathetic to people who are anxious about non-mask wearers.
One wrote: ‘Perhaps, he has a chronic fear of catching/passing on covid. Your need does not trump his.
‘I don’t really care who wears a mask and who doesn’t. I would probably be on the side of the non mask wearer if there was an argument.
‘However, Covid has also destroyed lives and I get that others are on high alert and wanting to protect their family.
‘Wear your lanyard and remember most people get it and will not challenge you.’
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