jducoeur | A weird sort of "immunity"

(This one's mostly a diary entry, albeit one of the moment.)

As word gets around about proper comportment in the Age of Covid (and I can't wait to see what the effects on social norms turn out to be in five years), everybody has heard that an important one is Don't Touch Your Face, particularly when you're out and about -- that's how virii picked up by your hands from surfaces can get into your respiratory system.

This has led to various observations about the fact that it's kind of hard not to touch your face, since it's something that folks just do unconsciously. (I was put in mind of it when reading this Oatmeal cartoon over lunch.)

Which leads me to realize that this is another way in which this is all a little less different for me than for most people. (Along with working from home, which I've done for many years now already.)

One little detail most folks don't realize is that I have, at least officially, just a touch of Tourette's Syndrome. Vastly milder than what people usually mean by the term, but when I was a kid I had twitches so bad they would give me terrible headaches. I was officially diagnosed at around age 12, and sent on my way with, "It'll probably get better as he gets older. If it doesn't, there are treatments, but you really don't want to go there if you don't have to."

In fact, it did gradually improve; by the time I got to college, I had it mostly under conscious control. You may still notice my neck twitching or my fingers twisting up when I'm tired, but in general I've learned to notice when I'm about to do things like that, and just not. That doesn't mean the urge to twitch went away, though -- I've mostly just learned how to not do it.

And the thing is, I noticed yesterday that the "don't touch your face" is remarkably similar. It's something I'm used to just doing, out of habit, and not doing it can be annoying. (When I think about it, my face starts to itch.) But the mental disciplines, to pay attention and just tell myself not to do that, are very similar to the ones I've had to follow my whole life.

None of which makes it enjoyable, mind -- it's still subtly stress-inducing. But it's helpful to already be somewhat in practice with this sort of thing...