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[…] practices made me an anomaly, as I was often the only person wearing a mask. But it’s important to consider the local context: in the history of the pandemic, Hill […]
comics and illustrations by clay jonathan
[…] practices made me an anomaly, as I was often the only person wearing a mask. But it’s important to consider the local context: in the history of the pandemic, Hill […]
That’s exactly me in Italy where everyone seems to be already back as if nothing has happened 😒👏😑😔😢
I felt this in my soul.
Are you planning to live forever?
It’s not worth it.
Dying by COVID is not pleasant, neither is giving it to other people because one didn’t want to wear a mask.
I plan to live forever, of course, but barring that I’d settle for a couple thousand years. Even five hundred would be pretty nice.
Living forever without eternal youth is a damnation, not a boon. Just ask the guy who got hit by a truck doing 60 MPH while he was riding a bike and lived through it.
Iain Macfarlane Hey! Get off my comment you reference throwing son of a…
COVID-19 sucks. I am in recovery from it – lost weeks from work, plus it threw me a blood clot that turned into a pulmonary embolism. Yet, I got off easy, at least no ventilator. I guess some young people are getting sick from it for months. Yes, young people are getting it now too. Be safe out there.
I am so glad that you are on the other side of this, and hope that you have no lasting damage. Thanks for speaking up in a world of deniers.
Just because someone doesn’t expect to live forever doesn’t mean they would like to suffer before they die, or that they would like to cause the suffering and death of others by spreading it.
Scary. I didn’t know the virus could do that.
it´s not about you. It’s about not saturating the health system of the country, provoking deaths from other pathologys also, and forcing another mandatory lockdown, making people loose their jobs or even destroying small companys and making an even bigger economic crisis than the one we already have, wich affects directly on the development and services that the country can provide and the quality of life of the people. I don´t pretend to nag anybody about this or seem overreative… i just have family working on health care. But i’m kind of surprise how oblivion people can be about how things work…
honestly with what’s going on and how the world seems to be going..
a quick instant death is much better than dying by a virus, and is also better than staying.
living forever.. thankfully is impossible, and even had it been possible i bet people would kill themselves after some time; because honestly living is too much over rated, it’s not worth it.
and looking at this hell you call world, i am not leaving anything behind me, no money, no offspring, no nothing.
if this planet wants to kill itself by itself, let death take over it, because honestly, there is no value in staying in it anymore.
if it’s not viral, it’s toxicity, if it’s not brutality, it’s conflict, if it’s not religious hatred, it’s greed. this “living” is not a “life” worth keeping. in fact i bet that the majority of us will die without living a single day a normal worthwhile life. we have been dead before we were even born, because we were brought to a hell where life doesn’t exist. only endless misery, regret, and envy.
You think…wearing a mask and social distancing is suffering??? Tf…
Not forever, just a few million years. I got stars to explore.
Yes friends. It’s an illness of the respiratory system. Oxygen deprivation is scary, lots of people end up on vents or lose limbs. (Clots can cause this too as a complication.) Please consider this before opting out of a mask. You all have beautiful bodies worth protecting, and I’ll say what I tell my patients: you only have one set of lungs. Live your lives, but do be careful. ❤️
It’s not about YOU living forever. It’s about passing on the disease to someone else. Remember the twilight zone episode & movie where there’s a red button, and if you press it, someone you don’t know will die but you get a million dollars? Well right now, people are just SLAMMING DOWN on that button but all they get for it is a haircut.
How perfect an analogy! I didn’t remember that episode but now I am going to look it up.
Iain Macfarlane Why hello there Nwabudikei Morgon…
Yes i do.
Tomasz Gwóźdź are you planning to die tomorrow? That’s the way to do it.
Actually, it’s not “just” a disease of the respiratory system. The reason it is so incredibly dangerous is that it is a disease that attacks all of your cells. People who have “recovered” from COVID-19 besides often having impaired lung capacity also sometimes have abnormal liver function, neurological issues, and one young man had his leg amputated.
Bro wtf
Cathy Washington I never said it couldn’t attack other body parts or lead to other issues. I’m not a doctor. But what it does to the lungs does cause other complications. Nothing else in your body works without oxygen. That’s all I was trying to say.
Good thing there’a an incredibly small chance of dying then.
Because wearing a mask ans staying six feet apart is SO hard?
Apologies, Tabitha, I was merely expanding upon your comment. It just is more complicated than the respiratory issues causing secondary health problems as the seasonal flu can lead to heart problems. The way covid19 literally attacks every cell in the body means the heart issue can be a primary problem caused directly by the virus not by the body’s response to the virus. (More common though with this one are liver problems.) Treatment of a symptom that is primary rather than secondary typically differs. I hope that clarifies my previous comment
The papers on this are quite hard to digest and I am trying to summarize what a properly educated friend explained to me. Not nearly as well, I fear.
Tabitha Renee More research is coming out now that COVID-19 might actually also be a circulatory system virus, which explains the number of young people with this disease who are dying of cardiac issues and having post illness issues due to blood clots, etc…. It’s scary….
I’m about to die hard of a brain tumor. I’d like to not die of covid19 thanks
I want a full lifespan. Life is short and we get precious little of it.
This was me last month when I saw the photos of Trinity Bellwoods Park on the first warm weekend here in Toronto. Just so…. argh….
Social distancing and lockdown was just what the pod people needed to take over.
Brazil in a nutshell
The nation or the film?
My feelings exactly.
This is me… everytime I go out. People forgot about COVID-19? Wtf indeed.
This is me when I have to leave to go to a doctors appointment. At least the drs offices are taking heavy precautions and forcing people to wear masks and sit/stand 6ft apart.
According to a study, cloth masks are only 3% effective. Also, the CDC said the covid death rate is 0.4% which is so incredibly low.
I was scared too at first. Then new information came out.
“But 0.5% is still a large number if the virus ends up being exposed to a high number of people, he said. That would be more than 1.6 million deaths if the virus spread to the entire U.S. population of approximately 329 million.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/05/fact-check-cdc-estimates-covid-19-death-rate-0-26/5269331002/
Any barrier is better than no barrier and thicker/layered materials will be more effective. Also, social distancing is still best overall. People who don’t show symptoms yet or ever can pass on the virus.
Masks help. Here’s the latest study from the Lancet.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31142-9/fulltext#%20
The case fatality rate is currently 5.6%. Although the CFR has limitations, it is the one with the most data behind it.
https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid
Please do not post disinformation on this site.
depression comix
This is the study I mentioned.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/#__ffn_sectitle
This one is more relevant:
“In conclusion, both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface.”
https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2764367/effectiveness-surgical-cotton-masks-blocking-sars-cov-2-controlled-comparison
Asymptomatic people aren’t as contagious as originally thought:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32405162/
depression comix I just don’t believe there needs to be so much fear. It’s had for mental and physical health.
Emily, the first link is from 2015 and is comparing the usefulness against *any* virus. The second doesn’t work.
Recent studies show two layers of cotton material in a mask (diy or otherwise) are up to 98% effective. The fact they are absorbant rather than water repellant may even be to our favor.
And just because you may get it and not die, it doesn’t mean you escape the blood clots, strokes, or permanent damage our age group is seeing. It also means you become a link in a terrible chain likely spreading it to someone more vulnerable who won’t hold up as well.
Emily Hansen as it was mentioned, the first study is from 2015. The second link doesn’t work. The third study evaluates the infectivity of ONE asymptomatic, one cannot make a generalized conclusion with an N=1.
Here in Japan, mask use is mandatory in schools and most people wear them. The rate of infection is very low in Japan despite it being a highly concentrated population.
The second article has been retracted. A copy is available here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7153751/
The filtration rate mentioned in the 2015 article was tested by continuously attacking the filtration material with an airstream containing fine particles. That is not a situation that would typically be found in the ambient environment. The infection rates were tested in hospital wards, which would have close patient contact, which is not a place where cloth masks would be the protection of choice.
Wear a mask, maintain social distancing, and wash your hands
Hey you know what’ll had to anxiety and stress? Watching your neighbors and loved ones die. Putting people at risk because you can’t stop and realize it’s not just about you!
I don’t think the CDC ever said that. I think your decimal point is in the wrong place.
Cathy Washington
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/05/22/the-cdc-just-gave-us-the-biggest-reason-to-end-the-coronavirus-lockdowns-n417178
WTH is “pjmedia”?
Hi, I just came from the CDC website. Using the data on the site for the calculation, the death rate for all known infected people is 5.6%. Non-infected people do not figure into the calculation, because they haven’t yet had their chance to die of COVID-19. The way things are going, they eventually will be.
Now, I don’t have data for the number of people who are hospitalized or in misery at home, but I wouldn’t want to risk either of those. I also don’t know where this 3% number for the effectiveness of cloth masks comes from. 3% effective at what, and under what conditions? When I fold my bandanna into a mask, there are six layers of cloth that a droplet or aerosol would have to work its way through to get to me. Not likely to protect me if someone blows their nose on my mask, but safe enough for ordinary wear, I think.
The cloth mask is more effective in protecting others from you (and from me), than in protecting the wearer. But I know that the safety of others, and the decrease in community infection rates is important too..
Sorry, I didn’t read all of the comments before making my post.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/pj-media/
Stop caring about death statistics so much. We’re young, we will survive it. Start looking at the damage it does instead. It damages the lung, can create or worsen heart issues, etc. Getting it means not going to work for weeks, possibly losing your job. It can spiral your life downwards. Just because you walked in an invisible cloud of droplets.
A lot of younger people are being careless because they figure they’re at low risk. But even if the virus doesn’t kill them or cause complications, they can still spread it to more vulnerable people.
“Sorry you’re dying, grandma, but I really had to play frisbee last weekend.”
Emily Hansen caution and fear are not the same thing
Actually, the correct statistics are strongly in support of face masks. The 3% statistic is not supported. See:
“We conclude that wearing of face masks in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent interhuman transmission, and this inexpensive practice, in conjunction with extensive testing, quarantine, and contact tracking, poses the most probable fighting opportunity to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to the development of a vaccine.” https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/10/2009637117
What sucks is the added anxiety of if you have allergies and asthma and can’t breathe in a mask and therefore are too afraid to leave your house not for fear of catching anything but the fear of being instantly judged when people see you not wearing a mask.
I suggest a face shield. I don’t know if you’ve seen these, but they work the same as a mask. Just Google face shields and people are actually selling them pretty inexpensively online.
I have allergies and asthma and some of the masks HELP with this, filtering out pollen and allergens.
Stephen, an asthmatic friend says the same, but for some people it can feel as if they’re not getting enough air. Of course they are, but that can be a trigger for some people. Logic doesn’t always prevent our not-that-developed ape brains from panicking.
Cathy Washington It can be a self defeating cycle. You wear the mask to protect yourself because you are higher risk do to asthma and/or allergies, the mask either physically or psychologically makes breathing harder, which then exasberates the whole situation, and at the end of it all you are just a slightly-panicked, freaked out person trying to do their best! It sucks. Also, if you are claustrophobic, masks can cause problems too.
Yes, I understand. Which is why I did not recommend wearing a mask but instead suggested a face shield.
i understand this too well, even though the viral danger is still going on, people no longer care for it and are starting to go out, and the confirmed cases are going up as well.
yes Robin you can get rid of your life by possibly catching the virus; since living in this time is not worth it any longer, in fact death is more , much more merciful.
but i don’t want to see Wren sad after all what she helped you with, and how much support she continuously keeps giving you.
aside from the comic, yes day after day living loses its value altogether more and more, the world around you going crazier and crazier, as if sanity never existed at all.
truly, life is no longer worth keeping. everything is disposable not simply expendable but rather disposable, as in trash.
property, souls, lives, etc. more than ever are choosing the shortcut over the longer journey, since death seems more meaningful than life and much more rewarding.
but whatever …. thanks for the new comic page.
This comic is exactly how I feel
Yeah, it’s like the world right now is saying “Everything your depression ever told you about people and the world is true.”
And then reaffirming that I’m not such a nice person either when I have the though ‘Maybe the world will be a better place when some of these people inevitably learn some hard lessons.’
The worst part is, I started a new medication in January and was making progress until the world went crazy. Then the world decided it was going to mirror my inner landscape and now I don’t even know what progress looks like.
I just started my meds in February before everything locked down and I am trying to tell if the meds are working or not. I hope you figure out yours <3
Thank you. I hope you can too. Starting meds at the beginning of all this has got to be incredibly tough. <3
I started on new meds last fall that finally seemed to be helping, I wasn’t happy but I wasn’t in pitch blackness either, and at least felt hopeful that maybe I was making progress…
So yeah, that’s all gone. And the really depressing thing is people keep saying they wish for everything to “go back to normal”, but “normal” was barely worth living in for me. I would hope things would improve over “normal” someday, but it’s pretty clear they won’t.
I laugh because otherwise I go crazy.
I saw someone post that it feels like being gaslit. To see healthcare workers in full hazmat suits working testing sites next to stores full of busy shoppers taking no precautions.
Who is being gaslit though?
Matt Blvck All the people taking this seriously. Everyone around them out acting like everything’s normal and not taking any precautions makes you feel paranoid for being cautious.
This.
I feel this comic in my soul.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/12/health/coronavirus-mask-wellness-trnd/index.html
My point ,exactly 😁😁😁
Amanda Regetz
Emily Nicole yup!!
Sara حساها انتى اوى اما بتنزلى وتيجى
Definitely my reaction when I went for a walk a my local trail.
brazil in a nutshell
That is me and my boyfriend too.
McKenzie Fetters
Mia DeLasho ☺️😢
People are morons.
I am the person who drew this. I understand social distancing quite well (1 meter minimum) and mask use (ALWAYS when you leave the home, because you may not be able to control who comes close to you). If this is in error, please tell us how I am wrong.
Just a reminder that this is a moderated safe space, so any insults or otherwise disrespectful behavior to others is not tolerated.
I am banning a number of people on this particular comic. I just banned someone for taking a swipe at my depression, the reason I started this comic.
Discussion is tolerated, but if it goes towards insults or anything that would make this place feel less safe for those suffering from depression and related mental illnesses … that I am not willing to suffer here.
Keep up the great work. Ignore the haters and tell your truth.
I may have blocked a person or two myself. dang. ((virtual HUGS)) I’ve been feeling this too, and I’m an “essential” worker, working around people who don’t care. May I share your comics on my “mental illness” Pinterest board?
All my work is on Pinterest if it makes it easier. It’s at https://www.pinterest.jp/depressioncomix/
Thank you! My board is actually called “mental health”. I shared a couple of them on there.
I accidentally filmed a video version of this comic… I saw this this post shortly before posting it and I take it as a good sign! Enjoy https://youtu.be/kQ7mnZyfmoc?t=10
Awesome, it wasn’t just me then!
Jasmine Brooks
YUP
This comic depicts people engaging in low risk behaviors. They aren’t the people to be mad at. Being angry that people are outside, but following recommendations, is irrational.
The recommendations are that you wear a mask and social distancing, so they are not following directions. It doesn’t matter if you’re outside or not. Also, recommendations vary from place to place. Calling people irrational will get you kicked here.
Just a reminder that this IS a mental health forum — calling people irrational, crazy, etc. is demeaning and is just an ad hominem.
The fact that so few of us, even if in the millions, are taking this seriously is horrible. It’s not going to go away quickly with people refusing to wear masks because “I’m an American”… well, at least, that’s how it is in America. It’s annoying.
Things are pretty much back to normal where I live. Outside of employees, almost no one is doing the mask or glove thing anymore.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve sent this cartoon to! It is me, everyday. It’s PERFECT! It’s also why I became a monthly supporter. Thanks for finding that succinct way to express so many of our experiences. Love your work.
Thank you very kindly for the words and for supporting my work!
Brazil.
The movie or the country? Because they are both a little nutty right now. Well one years ago, the other right now.
I love the hand lettering in this. (Other things are good, too, but I’m a font nerd.)
Thanks! I prefer to hand letter comics than use a font, feels like it’s more personable than using someone else’s handwriting.