by Jim Rickards, Daily Reckoning:

In Chapters One and Two of my new book, The New Great Depression, I explain how the pandemic originated from a bioweapons laboratory in Wuhan, China and how the virus spread around the world, regardless of policies such as lockdowns and masks, which proved to be useless.

But, in Chapter Five, I explore one of the least reported and potentially longest lasting legacies of the pandemic – mental health disorders.

Most experts and almost all everyday citizens are unaware of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus can penetrate the neural network and brain membrane, directly impacting cognition. Even more important are the long-term effects of adaptive behavior.

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For the past 15 months, the U.S. population has been terrorized with demands for lockdowns, quarantines, social distancing, facemasks, skipping holidays, and now injections with experimental gene modification treatments, (which are not true vaccines in the traditional sense).

People adapt by becoming anti-social and withdrawn. Disorders such as anxiety, depression, violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and suicide all climb rapidly. The difficulty is that once behavior adapts in this way, it’s not easy to switch back to how things were before the pandemic.

The adaptive behavior can persist for years or even decades in the absence of some equally catastrophic event that causes a new adaptation, such as war or a natural disaster.

Some people adapt more easily than others. This can lead to clashes between those who are more able to get back to normal and those who cannot.

Kicking the Mask Habit

For example, a supermarket chain in New York decided to eliminate the indoor mask requirement for those who are vaccinated. They also said they would not ask for proof of vaccination, and the no mask policy would essentially be an honor system.

This provoked a furious backlash from customers who insisted that masks were still required and they would continue wearing their masks indefinitely. Some claimed that any “scientifically literate” person would still wear a mask, despite the fact that actual science shows that they don’t really work.

There was a counter-backlash from customers who were “done with masks” and objected to the mask fearmongers. Of course, the store management was just trying to get back to normal and got caught in a crossfire of caustic comments from both sides.

Expect more of this. Fear is not easy to overcome, even as the pandemic dies out.

“Voluntary” Vaccination

Governments are trying to assure citizens that they won’t require proof of vaccination (so-called “vaccine passports”) and are relaxing mandatory mask policies in response to the decline in pandemic caseloads.

But, both policy assurances are lies.

The vaccine passport requirement is underway (see more below). Europe has already announced that Americans won’t be allowed to travel to the EU without a vaccination.

Even if the U.S. does not go that far, the fact that Europe does means you’ll need your injection and a QR code validation on your smartphone (something like a boarding pass) if you want to travel abroad. The same is true for masks.

The CDC said that masks are no longer required outside. As mentioned, many businesses took the cue and said masks are no longer required inside either if the customer has been vaccinated.

(By the way, none of these rules seem to take into account the 33 million Americans who have had COVID and recovered. These individuals have actual antibodies that are likely far more effective at fighting the disease than the genetically modified antibodies produced by the so-called vaccines. Why do they need masks?)

No Vaccine, No Entry

Most businesses that dropped mask requirements allowed customers to make their own choices based on an honor system about vaccination. Now, Oregon has intervened to require actual proof of vaccination before entering a building without a mask, even if the building owner is willing to use an honor system.

These policy choices, apart from being obnoxious, are not free. They impose a huge cost on the economy and slow the recovery.

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