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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?

@NatureLover @chibam maybe you could write a position description for a psychosocial therapist. Maybe some of it would look like what @tyme does on the forums.

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

@Dimity You're up early! Lovely to see you 🙂 Hope you are OK...

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

@NatureLover I'm so glad you have working electrics in the bathroom. Well done.

Things went a bit downhill in seeing the specialist and its aftermath and I spent the night in Emergency.

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

OMG @Dimity 😮 OMG 😢

Are you home? Are you safe?

Sending care ❤️

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Thanks @NatureLover yes I'm home and safe . Got home a little while ago. Very cold morning. I'll try to get some sleep after I've contacted the specialist. Just waiting for her rooms to open.

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Thank goodness @Dimity ❤️

I hope you can get some sleep after you contact the specialist. I'm sorry that the appt yesterday was so distressing 😢

Sending hugs and ❤️

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

@NatureLover thanks... yes distressing but medical not mh.

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Ah, OK...so you weren't in Emergency overnight for MH? @Dimity

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

@NatureLover no it wasn't for MH. I got stopgap treatment overnight, and think tomorrow after follow-up from the specialist I'll be told I need surgery. I'm being shunted between hospitals at the moment so it's a bit piecemeal. Hopefully my new gp will help me navigate it.

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

Re: Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?


@NatureLover wrote:

I'm guessing the difference is that the social worker helps with practical stuff like maybe making difficult phone calls or advocating for people, whereas the psychosocial therapist can also do talk therapy for the mental stuff like depression and anxiety? What do you think?


Frankly, @NatureLover ... I'm at my wit's end trying to figure it all out.

I was under the impression that psychosocial therapists do that sort of stuff you describe for the social worker.

When your life is in the crapper you really need an arrangement where you can really talk to someone - at length - and with the legally-bound privacy guarantees of doctor-patient privelage. Not because the talking in and of itself is in any way beneficial or desirable, but because you need to insure that your therapist precisely understands what you want your life to look like; they need to understand what you are hiring them to do.

Honestly, I spent most of my life, until I was almost 30 just blindly assuming that this was what therapists did. I just assumed that if ever my life was in the crapper, and friends and family wouldn't/couldn't step-up to help, I could just go to a therapist and they'd sort it all out for me.

Now...

It's all just a bunch of big words and mumbo-jumbo that doesn't make one iota of sense to me, and increasingly feels like just a bunch of empty promises that are deliberately so vaguely worded so that they can later be shown to not make any promises at all.

I'm sick of it, TBH.

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