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Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Hi, I have just joined. I have a few mental illnesses, but am especially interested in hearing if there are any diagnosed germophobes or people with hoarding disorder on these forums?

I don't know any germophobes in real life, and would be interested to know how any of you pre-Corona germophobes are doing. Can you find enough sanitiser? If not, what are you using instead? Has your germophobia gone sky-high in this pandemic? Do you find it less or more lonely now that nearly everyone is a self-confessed germophobe?

My germophobia is quite bad - I can't have anyone in my house, and need lots of sanitiser when I go out. E.g. I use it after leaving my house and before I get in the car; again before I touch the steering wheel, again after touching my purse, again before putting my seat belt on, etc. I am struggling to find enough sanitiser. If I run out, I was thinking about diluting some disinfectant and putting it into an old water bottle to take out with me. I had one really bad panic lasting 3 days that was debilitating, due to COVID-19, but after that thankfully my germophobia came back down to normal levels. I guess normal levels are not that great but at least I am used to them!

I am strangely finding it more lonely as a diagnosed germophobe now, and would really like to meet some other germophobes online and hear how you're going. At least I had a friend tell me that I was in a stronger position than him, during this health crisis, as he had trouble remembering to wash his hands, whereas I wash them a hundred times a day already!

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In response to: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Hi @tyme , thanks so much for popping in! I'm glad you have a pool to jump into 🙂

I'm late online today as I wanted to do the watering of the garden early (I'm in Melbourne too). So now I'm under the aircon which is nice. At least we still have power for now...

I agree about not going out in 40 degree heat!

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Hi @Dimity , hoping you're OK in the heat today in Melbourne. And your garden too.

Missing you and hoping you're coping OK... ❤️

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

@NatureLover ,

Beating the heat here. Spent most of the evening in the pool last night and this morning. It was lovely in the water. I think I would've slept in the water lol.

What did you get up to today @NatureLover ? Hope you are well.

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?


@tyme wrote:

Spent most of the evening in the pool last night and this morning. It was lovely in the water. I think I would've slept in the water lol.


You made this sound really lovely @tyme 🙂

I stayed at home yesterday. Am mostly OK thanks. Struggling with the house as usual.

Hope you have a good week...

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Hi @Dimity ...I hope the break from the forums is doing you good. Sending ❤️

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Hi @creative_writer , I saw on another thread that you're a Germophobe! I didn't know! So am I. If you want to talk about it, I am here on this thread... 🙂

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

@NatureLover, it’s how my family is. I ended up with hand irritation, don’t know if it’s excessive washing or rubbing. I take way too long washing hands, and have been like this even before COVID. Though COVID certainly didn’t help

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Your whole family is germophobic @creative_writer ? Oh gosh. It would be hard to avoid, growing up like that.

Yes, washing your hands raw sucks 😢

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

@NatureLover I was doing a lot of hand rubbing-stimming yesterday at uni due to anxiety which isn’t good for flakiness. We try to get moisturising hand washes and body washes since we are all cautious. My dad tells me to stop washing my hands so much. Though, I would probably say my dad is more on the germaphobic side too, but not as bad. His habits changed after he married my mum. My mums side of family have a lot of anxious habits and there is quite a bit of depression and a bit of bipolar.

We separate outside clothes from home clothes. The idea of going into bed with clothes I wore on public transport and uni makes me gag

In response to: Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Thinking of you @Dimity and hoping you're OK... 🤞

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