Mysophobia

Mysophobes

The people who have an excessive fear of germs usually tend to believe that the world to be a ‘filthy place’. As a result, they are always cleaning or washing in attempt to get rid of the 'filth'.

Mysophobic people are known to spend a majority of their time doing as such.

They may also spend countless amounts of money on cleaning products, and thus exposing themselves to harmful chemicals which make up most of these cleaning products.

“A mysophobic individual is mainly concerned with contamination and sterilization; unlike a tidy person who would only clean surfaces to ensure there is no dust.”

“They fear getting contaminated from dirt, dust, grime or people who are sneezing or coughing nearby.” They fear diseases and illnesses and anything related to germs.

These people are often very paranoid and feel the constant need to wash their hands or take a shower to cleanse themselves from bacteria. This interferes with their daily lives and cause more stress to build up.

Symptoms

Depending on the level of fear, different symptoms are present;

Some symptoms of mysophobic people are:

History

“Mysophobia usually stems from an obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD. The sufferer feels the need to wash his/her hands frequently, which is one of the characteristics of OCD.”

However, OCD is slightly different from mysophobia.

Many suffer from both, but a thorough medical evaluation would be necessary to determine if it is mysophobia or OCD.

Heredity and genetics have been believed to have a strong link to the fear of germs phobia.

Children with an obsessive-compulsive parent are more likely to become mysophobes themselves upon growing up.

"Additionally, a traumatic event in the past or sometimes even a random event can trigger and lead to mysophobia.”

• Washing frequently and excessively

• Refusing to use public bathrooms

• Avoiding all kinds of social activities or places that include coming in contact with people

• Refusing to share personal items like combs, brushes, or food with anyone

• May even be repulsed from

public places like restaurants or bus stations and especially touching anything outside their home

What is Mysophobia?

Mysophobia (also known as verminophobia, germophobia, bacillophobia, and bacteriophobia, is a pathological fear of contamination and germs.

It is both an anxiety disorder (in which case, a phobia) and an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Myso is the Greek word for germs and Phobos being fear, so therefore, mysophobia is the excessive and often irrational fear of microbes or getting contaminated with germs.

Treatment

Further Details

Mysophobia is shown in the frequent and repeated washing of one’s hands in fear of bacteria and dirt.

This has long been related to the OCD of constantly washing one's hands, and the paranoia that comes with cleanliness.

Names pertaining directly to the abnormal fear of dirt and filth include molysmophobia or molysomophobia, rhypophobia, and rupophobia.

“A combination of therapies is recommended for treating phobias like mysophobia and anxiety disorders like OCD.

These include drugs, cognitive behavior therapy, exposure and gradual desensitization therapies as well as relaxation training.”

Exposure therapy consists of helping the mysophobic patient relearn how to approach germs gradually until he or she is able to refrain from washing his/her hands.

This may be a slow process such as getting the mysophobe to do activities out of their usual comfort zone until they are ready to be able to do these things normally

(Ex. letting someone borrow belongings, touching doorknobs, not washing their hands for a certain period of the day, etc.)

“The individuals also learn to focus on calming techniques and develop the ability to remain in a ‘contaminated environment’ without having a panic attack.”

Although this disorder is not common, it does significantly affect

those who have it.

Bibliography

"FearOf.net." FearOfnet. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct.

2015.

Feature, WebMD. "Cleanliness Rules

Germaphobes' Lives." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

"How to Overcome Your Fear of Germs."

About.com Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

"Misunderstanding Microbes -- Mysophobia."

Misunderstanding Microbes -- Mysophobia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

"Mysophobia: Fear of Germs." Epigee.org. N.p., n.d.

Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

Mysophobia

presentation by Sophie Nguyen