Dear Reader,
The wearing of a face mask to protect against a respiratory virus is an act of grand deceit. It is a behavior that defies research on the topic. Wearing a face mask, as this article (one of many) points to — is unsafe to do and is ineffective.
Until the narrative around mandatory masking has changed, each day by 6am Eastern, I will both post here and send out a science-based reason why no one should wear a face mask.
I ask that you help me circulate these pieces to those around you who you believe could most benefit from them. It is important not to remain silent on this topic. These are important discussions to be having with friends, family members, business owners, healthcare practitioners, public servants, and others in the community.
-Allan
Beyond cognition, there is additional harm done to the mind and personal wellbeing by how face masks psychologically harm an individual: both the one wearing a face mask and individuals around a masked person, whether they be verbally interacting with the masked person or not.
Baruch Vainshelboim writes in “Face masks in the Covid-19 era: A health hypothesis:”1
“Psychologically, wearing face mask fundamentally has negative effects on the wearer and the nearby person. Basic human-to-human connectivity through face expression is compromised and self-identity is somewhat eliminated. These dehumanizing movements partially delete the uniqueness and individuality of person who wearing the face mask as well as the connected person. Social connections and relationships are basic human needs, which innately inherited in all people, whereas reduced human-to-human connections are associated with poor mental and physical health.”
Vainshelboim ties face masks into a greater trend in so-called “social” technology, isolating people:
“Despite escalation in technology and globalization that would presumably foster social connections, scientific findings show that people are becoming increasingly more socially isolated, and the prevalence of loneliness is increasing in last few decades. Poor social connections are closely related to isolation and loneliness, considered significant health related risk factors.”
The social isolation and the sense of loneliness may even be lethal. Vainshelboim correlates social isolation with mortality:
“A meta-analysis of 91 studies of about 400,000 people showed a 13% increased morality risk among people with low compare to high contact frequency. Another meta-analysis of 148 prospective studies (308,849 participants) found that poor social relationships was associated with 50% increased mortality risk. People who were socially isolated or fell lonely had 45% and 40% increased mortality risk, respectively. These findings were consistent across ages, sex, initial health status, cause of death and follow-up periods. Importantly, the increased risk for mortality was found comparable to smoking and exceeding well-established risk factors such as obesity and physical inactivity. An umbrella review of 40 systematic reviews including 10 meta-analyses demonstrated that compromised social relationships were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, depression, anxiety suicide, cancer and overall physical illness.”
Vainshelboim is not saying anything new here. He is saying what we already knew — a person who is perpetually isolated and lonely, has a lower quality of life and shorter life. Many intuitively realize that deep down. What Vainshelboim does is to tie this to masks as well, practically thumping every reader on the head and saying “PAY ATTENTION, YOU KNOW THIS ALREADY. WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS STUPID.”
Vainshelboim goes beyond the harmful effects of loneliness and isolation on the individual and also digs into the effects of added physical stress on the body and mind:
“As described earlier, wearing face masks causing hypoxic and hypercapnic state that constantly challenges the normal homeostasis, and activates ‘fight or flight’ stress response, an important survival mechanism in the human body. The acute stress response includes activation of nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and the immune systems. These include activation of the limbic part of the brain, release stress hormones (adrenalin, neuro-adrenalin and cortisol), changes in blood flow distribution (vasodilation of peripheral blood vessels and vasoconstriction of visceral blood vessels) and activation of the immune system response (secretion of macrophages and natural killer cells).”
That describes the harm on the wearer. Vainshelboim goes further, illustrating how the act of seeing someone else in a face mask causes psychological and physical harm to another as well.
“Encountering people who wearing face masks activates innate stress-fear emotion, which is fundamental to all humans in danger or life threating situations, such as death or unknown, unpredictable outcome. While acute stress response (seconds to minutes) is adaptive reaction to challenges and part of the survival mechanism, chronic and prolonged state of stress-fear is maladaptive and has detrimental effects on physical and mental health. The repeatedly or continuously activated stress-fear response causes the body to operate on survival mode, having sustained increase in blood pressure, pro-inflammatory state and immunosuppression.”
It is impossible to read Vainshelboim and continue to say that face masks do no harm. Another reason not to wear them, not to allow your children in them, and not to allow anyone around you or your children in them is that they do grievous psychological harm.
Vainshelboim B. Retracted: Facemasks in the COVID-19 era: A health hypothesis [retracted in: Med Hypotheses. 2021 May 12;:110601]. Med Hypotheses. 2021;146:110411. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110411
The bestselling book "Face Masks In One Lesson" by Allan Stevo describes how to never wear a face mask again. The follow-up to the book, "Face Masks Hurt Kids," describes why to never wear a face mask again. We must defeat the awful, narrative around the mandates.
Examples of how face masks hurt kids will be posted to the Lockdown Land Substack each morning by 6am Eastern until the narrative around this ineffective and harmful medical intervention has shifted. Face masks are, in fact, not just harmful to children. Face masks are harmful to everyone. Thank you so much for helping me circulate this research.