Contamination OCD?

So I’m extremely germaphobic. Thing is though, I don’t get that uncomfortable around (potentially) contaminated surfaces. I don’t wash my hands or disinfectant more than the average human being. However, whenever the people around me are sick, I become hyperaware of the pathogens I’m breathing in. I tend to take shallower breaths/hold my breath (so that I inhale a lower concentration of pathogens). I also try to breathe through my diaphragm and cover my mouth with my hand if I need to breathe normally. Why don’t I just wear a mask or avoid people that are sick, you ask? Well, wearing a mask would not be societally appropriate, and as for avoiding people that are sick, I’m more scared of losing my friends than getting sick. It’s getting more and more problematic. Like I was taking a test, and the person sitting in front of me was sick. I did not breathe normally for the entire test and was about to pass out afterwards. Like your girl was hyperventilating. I got my grade back tonight, and it was well below what I usually score 💀 My friends have also started to call me out on my germaphobia. Some of them have noticed my odd breathing patterns, but I usually hit them with the “you take my breath away” and they back off. They’re more upset that I don’t check on them when they’re absent. I usually send the notes that they missed but don’t ask where they were. I promise it’s not because I don’t care; it’s just that if they were sick, I don’t want to know. So I’m wondering if what I have is contamination OCD.

hankypanky18

Date posted: Yesterday

This is the beginnings of some very OCD behaviors breaking out. When you’re saying “well I don’t do any of these other things any different from anyone else”, that is because your mind has yet to fixate. I’m going to assume you’re in highschool-college? I remember living completely normal my first year at highschool. I got covid and a stomach virus, and lived life normal as any other kid. Well one day it struck me… was I washing my hands for 20 seconds? And that was it, the snowball that turns to an avalanche. BUT! You do not have to let it get to where my ocd got. You are smart and you realized that this was a bad behavior, and that’s great because it means you can stop it. First, you have to confront the question: WHY are you afraid to be sick? What will it do to your life that makes you so terrified? I found that for me, my fear of getting sick was that I was afraid to infect others, afraid to create filth that I could not clean on my clothes or items in my room, and afraid to miss out on social events. It may be completely different for you, or maybe we have some stuff in common! Either way, there’s probably a deeper reason behind being afraid of a sickness that for most people would not impact their life more than a couple missed days of school. Next, you got to immediately go AGAINST your fears and take large, deep breaths. Will this be completely uncomfortable? Yes! It’s supposed to be! You’ve got to show yourself that nothing will occur if you breathe normally, and that even if you do get sick, it’s not so scary! Goodluck!

Cher54

Date posted: 18h

@hankypanky18 That is very good advice.

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