El Paso psychiatrist offers advice on dealing with conflicts over mask wearing, social distancing

EL PASO, Texas -- The last six months have shown that not everyone views the coronavirus pandemic through the same lens.

Dr. Fabrizzio Delgado, who works as the psychiatrist consultation chief at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, gave ABC-7 some insights about handling some of the different attitudes that have emerged regarding the virus.

Dr. Delgado said the two most important factors in such disagreements are patience and perspective.

"If your partner wants to wear a mask and you do not want to wear a mask then what is more important?" he asked. "Covid-19 is a high stress topic and disagreements about it can't be won through arguments. If it feels like some sort of agreement or compromise isn't forthcoming then sometimes the best thing to do is just get up, take a beat and try again later."

This sometimes also means having to deal with peer pressure from friends or family members who perhaps don't consider it dangerous to venture out into the community and continually ask you to join them.

As the end of the pandemic still seems to be many weeks, if not months away, people are also advised by Dr. Delgado to remember that talking through issues like these can often take multiple conversations and coming to a solid agreement or compromise can take time.