With face coverings being a mandatory requirement in shops and retail outlets from the 24th July 'Happiful' looks at how to cope with anxiety you may have around wearing a face mask.

"If wearing a face mask leaves you feeling anxious, you’re not alone. We share tips on how you can feel calmer and in control whilst wearing a face mask

Face masks. They’ve become a divisive debate over recent months, with neither side willing to give much leeway. While scientists and experts have been sharing their importance and benefits for some time, it’s only now that lockdown has begun to lift that it is coming into law that face masks must be worn in shops from Friday 24th July.

But why is there so much debate and high emotions running around face masks? And why are so many threads on social media and articles alike filled with intolerance and anger from both sides? In places, it feels like we have become focused on arguments between personal freedom VS selfishness or stupidity - whereas the real issues we are really worried about: the safety of loved ones, our own safety, and our anxieties around this uncertain, ever-changing situation, filled with bleak headlines and daily doses of bad to worse news - are becoming drowned out by vitriol.

Whether you experience anxiety around face masks yourself, or are looking to better understand and support a loved one, it’s great that you are seeking help and trying to find a way to manage how you are feeling. Here’s a little bit more info about face masks: why they’re important, why they make some of us so uncomfortable, and what you can do to cope once face coverings become mandatory."

https://happiful.com/how-to-cope-with-face-mask-anxiety/