Is this the behavior of a germophobe?

@Valenas (1507)
United States
June 6, 2008 11:53am CST
I do not know the actual term, but feel free to tell me if you know it or feel like looking it up. =D Anyway, I used to be able to drink after people, eat after people, and tolerate people kissing me on the forehead or on the cheek. Now I cannot eat food if it has touched the fork a person was using, or if someone else had bitten off of it. I cannot share drinks (which makes it more expensive to go to the movies), and I start panicking if someone's mouth even gets near me. Oddly, it started within my family, and spread out to not being able to eat or drink after my friends, too. I think it started with the people in my family who smoke, and then went from there. I have noticed that it is only getting worse, to the point where I feel sick while doing dishes and afterwards I wash my hands until I feel like they are clean. When my grandmother tries to kiss me (on the cheek) goodbye, I just can't tolerate the idea of letting her do so, and it makes her sad.. Today, while heating leftover rice, I used a fork that I thought was mine (one would think that the fork I was using would be the only one out there), and I as I was taking a bite to test it, I looked over to see my fork resting on the lid. After two rounds with the mouthwash, and nuking the food for an unneeded five minutes, I have to wonder, am I afraid of germs? Or maybe it is just a trust issue that I have with the rest of the world? I am leaning towards the trust issue, because here and there I can drink from the same glass as my friend is drinking from. I do not really seek to correct this problem, because there seems to be a loophole with it, I just wonder why it may have started in the first place, if not my own reasoning.
1 response
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
6 Jun 08
Okay, you shouldn't drink and eat after people the way you described it. That is unhealthy. But you now have taken it too far because you have problems receiving a kiss on the cheek from an otherwise healthy person and even worse, problems doing dishes. That is a germaphobe and you may want to seek therapy as it doesn't seem to improve for you. I guess it started with the realization on how germs are transferred and you brain's reaction to it. Maybe you have seen a disgusting documentary or something about it. Who knows! But you have to do something about it. Not wanting to share food, drinks, utensils, that's fine and normal, but the rest isn't.
@Valenas (1507)
• United States
6 Jun 08
I disagree somewhat. A person should be able to drink after his or her own mother, and I can't. When Mother and I go to the movies, sometimes it is easier to just order one drink and one popcorn, but we have to order two separate drinks. If we are at a restaurant, and she wants me to "just try" something that she is eating, I can't. I can be covered in dog saliva (I work at a veterinary clinic, so it happens often) and be just fine, but the human mouth disgusts me!