Mask dependency among young Japanese
Mask dependency in Japan predated Covid, but it was very much a minority pursuit. But the problem has massively expanded during the pandemic, leading to recent articles about it in the Japanese media.
The Asahi Shimbun (AS) site EduA recently published an interview with psychologist Masami Yamaguchi (MY, pictured below) titled “More children don’t want to show their face. How should children with mask dependence be cared for?” I’ve translated the article since I thought it’d be of interest to people living in countries that have returned to relative sanity. Highlights are all my own. Note that the word “children” in the article encompasses teenagers too.
Anxiety about going out and one’s appearance can lead to mask dependence
AS: More children are developing mask dependency. How should we think about this condition?
MY: I think that by not exposing one's face to the public, people have less social fear and gain a sense of security. Even though you're outside the house, you feel like you've shut down interactions with other people. In addition, some children seem to feel that wearing a mask has benefits other than preventing infection. One of the most common opinions, especially from girls, is that they look cuter with a mask on. You may have experienced this, but when someone you didn't know took off their mask, didn't you feel a gap between expectation and reality?
There is a scientific basis for this: the human brain supplements the invisible part of the face with an average face. This will result in a face close to average attractiveness, leading to a gap with the actual face.
There’s real-world evidence to support this. A study found less (more) attractive women were perceived to be more (less) attractive when masked. A cynic may conclude some females support universal masking for that reason.
AS: So children who are less confident in how they look are more likely to become mask dependent?
MY: Probably. I hear that the number of children with mental problems is increasing due to anxiety such as being afraid to go out and the sense of being cooped up throughout society as a whole during the corona crisis. As a result, it is possible that increasing numbers of children have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and strongly feel that their own faces are unattractive and ugly. If you have BDD, your thinking will become more and more inward and you will be thinking about how to make yourself feel safe.
The effect of mask dependence on sociality
AS: According to a survey in Feb 2020, about half of teenage males and females said they wanted to keep masking even after the pandemic is over. If masking continues, what effect will it have?
MY: My biggest concern is the impact on the "sociality" of remembering people's faces and building relationships. The development of human face recognition continues until about the age of 30. Elementary school students have the opportunity to learn the faces of their classmates and teachers, junior high and high school students have the opportunity to learn the faces of friends they meet during extracurricular activities and lessons, and college students have the opportunity to learn the faces of people in extracurricular clubs and at their part-time jobs.
However, mask dependency has got to the point that some children don’t remove their masks even in online classes. Infection prevention doesn’t matter, and the purpose becomes odd. Only some close friends know your face, and it seems natural that you have classmates who don't know what you actually look like. In that case, I think that the gap between people who are close to you and those who aren’t will become wider, and you will only be able to build narrow relationships.
More conspiratorially minded readers are probably thinking “That’s the point!”
MY: For example, you may not be able to recognize the face of a classmate after graduating from school, and you may not notice him/her it even if you meet by chance somewhere.
AS: Some children may become self-conscious of their face if they unmask, and may become worse at communicating.
MY: Fundamentally, I want you to think about who the face belongs to. For example, in the United States, many states have "anti-mask laws." Since there were many cases of people hiding their faces while repeatedly committing violent acts, masks were banned.
Showing your face means showing "who you are" and making people around you feel safe. It can be said to be self-centered to not remove your mask because you don’t want other to see your face.
Westerners generally have more difficulty accepting masks because they focus on the mouth when reading the other person's emotions. On the other hand, East Asians, including Japanese, pay attention to the eyes, so they can read the other person's emotions even when they’re wearing a mask.
I imagine many of you are thinking “Huh!?” But I’ve read and heard this many times over the last few years. You see what I have to put up with?
MY: We can communicate while wearing a mask, but we need to understand that a mask wearing is not conducive to actively interacting.
Adults should rethink mask usage
AS: In the summer, due to concerns about heat stroke, many schools instructed students to remove their masks during physical education classes and while commuting to and from school. Still, a certain number of children have not removed their masks. What kind of care should we request from parents?
Just to be clear, the national government never requested mask wearing during PE classes, but some dull-witted teachers made kids do it anyway.
MY: I think that many children won’t unmask it even if their teachers and parents tell them that it’s okay since for them the purpose of wearing a mask is no longer just to prevent infection. In Japan today, most people wear masks even outdoors, and I feel that society as a whole is becoming too introverted.
Under such circumstances, to overcome mask dependence, it may be a good idea to teach children why wearing a mask has negatives. However, not being able to remember the faces of people you meet, not being remembered, and narrower human relationships are not negatives that appear right away, but negatives that appear more clearly as you grow up. That's why it's not easy to teach.
If it's difficult to explain in words, you may want to create an opportunity for mask-dependent children to meet new people. For example, if you attend an event where everyone’s wearing a mask, you probably won't be able to remember the faces of the participants, and they won't be able to remember your face either.
I think it’s important for the children themselves to realize that "wearing a mask has negatives." At the same time, parents will likely need to rethink their own mask usage.
The problem with Prof Yamaguchi’s example is that even if mask-dependent kids come to realise the social negatives of masks, there are still almost no mask-free events for them to go to.
AS: Society as a whole has an atmosphere in which unmasking is difficult, so even adults have trouble deciding when to unmask.
MY: Children are sensitive to the anxiety of adults. With all the uncertainty about Covid, we can’t say, "Let's take off our masks." But the tendency for people to look at those around them and follow what they’re doing has become stronger, and I don’t thing the current situation where we can’t escape from Covid measures is an unequivocally good thing.
Looking at the rest of the world, people in Europe and the United States are returning to normal without masks, and I hear that only Japan and some parts of Asia are still masking. If the current situation continues, mask dependence among children will become more and more serious. It’s about time for us to seriously think about future risks.
It’s ironic that Prof Yamaguchi ends by saying serious thinking is needed when she obviously has trouble thinking seriously herself. If people in other countries have unmasked, why can’t the Japanese? Who exactly is going to think seriously about future risks: the politicians and “experts” that prioritise pharma interests, or the public who she admits have become even more conformist? Prof Yamaguchi should know that mask dependence can’t be cured while the government keeps requesting mask-wearing during all social interactions and the media keep treating unmasking like a crime. It’s like telling your friend that he can cure his alcoholism while still going to the pub every day.
Impressively for me, I’ve managed to get this far into a post without moaning about the ineffectiveness of masks. But I may as well repeat myself once again: masks never worked in Japan or anywhere else. It’s about time for the Asahi and other Japanese media to interview someone who’ll admit it.
Masks make people look stupid. I will not have a conversation with a mask-wearer if I can help it. Covidians cannot think. Why would I waste my time talking to a non-thinking person? However, I would like to thank every single covidian for making my job easier. I know who to avoid.
How about the negative health risks associated with prolonged mask use for one? These people burn me up. My kid is finishing his 3rd year in elementary school. I have not seen the face of a single teacher at his school nor any of his classmates and their parents except those he went to nursery school through kindergarten with.
She wonders why kids wear masks for online classes? Hell, the mother faucing medical professionals here do! AND demand that we do too. Just had a 3 day long workshop as a simulated patient. 50 some odd medical students interviewed over Zoom as if I were a patent. 100% wore masks! Last year a small number took them off for the medical interview, these all wore them through out.
At some schools, I have 2 or more years of students whose faces I have never seen nor voices ever heard. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Enough already. But it continues and looks to keep on keeping on.