[Berries]

I have OCD. I have a germ "thing". I and all my docs call it germ phobia. But it isn't really. I am not afraid I'll get some horrible disease. I know the chances of that are slim. I get that.
I actually, never get sick. I have been sick twice in 7 years. But if I do get sick, I will freak. Not because I'm afraid of dying, but that my body has been invaded.
Germs and cooties (for lack of a better word) DISGUST me. I don't want other people's germs/cooties on me and especially not in me (thru eating or breathing).
It also has a sexual component. I can't touch anything I guy has just touched because I know at the very least he just touched his privates while peeing and probably just touched it to masturbate.
And any kind of intimacy is out. I can't even shake hands with someone. I even get unsettled if I accidentally bump into someone. I used to have to wear gloves everywhere. Now, I carry Clorox wipes in public and use them to touch things with.
Is that weird?????

[gimmeice]

((((((((((( lbien )))))))))))

I don't know if that is weird or not, I think that we all have something about us that would probably be considered weird by someone. Have you explained to your doctor how you feel? It would probably still be considered a phobia, since it is still a type of immense fear, yours may just be a bit different then the most common forms of phobia.

[e_sort]

well you probably know it's not normal behavior. do you mean is it normal for OCD? i think it's pretty common. it's not my problem but a lot of people have germ or contamination issues. the nice thing is that i hear the exposure therapy works pretty well for that stuff, so there's a lot of hope for it.

i always wondered about whether that would work for me. my compulsive issues are more noise / personal space related as well as the obsessing. nobody even suggested it when i first started going nuts and even now after 6 months of meds, it seems scary.

[Berries]

Ya, I've done exposure work. It is scary! But it was also very helpful. I would recommend it.
I have since lost my OCD therapist (moved away) and stopped my OCD meds (couldn't take the side effects). So, I am backsliding.
When diagnosed by this therapist, he said disgust was not "classic" germ phobia, but can be treated with the same therapy--Exposure Response Therapy.
I was just wondering if I was the only one, who wasn't "classic" germ phobic. I was wondering if anyone was more disgusted by the germs than afraid of getting sick from the germs.
Basically, I am tired of never fitting in anywhere. I don't fit in with "normal" (whatever that means) people, at all. And most of the time I don't feel like I fit in in any of the forums here.
Sorry, I am having a pity party today!