Things only Hannah would say.: Understanding a Germaphobe 101

Mysophobia (Verminophobia) (from Greek μύσος - musos, "uncleanness"[1] and φόβος - phobos, "fear";[2] colloquially germophobia/germaphobia, a combination of germ and phobia to mean "fear of germs", as well as bacillophobia, and bacteriophobia) is a pathological fear of contamination and germs.

As most of you know by my Facebook posts, or by actually knowing me in real-life (BIG DIFFERENCE); I am a super germaphobe. I will say that I have come quite a ways in my short life, but my trade-mark handshakes fool no one, I am still noticeably irritated by physical contact to say the least. Here's some facts about someone who has germ-anxieties, to help you better understand why you aren't helping at all when you say things like " germs are good for you" (we know that! shut up, seriously, shut up.).

1) most germ anxieties stem from even bigger anxieties that hide beneath the surface.

2) most of the time our tendencies are actually based on an obsessive compulsive feeling because obsessive compulsive disorder, germaphobia, hypochondriasis, and general anxiety disorders come from the same place: fear of losing-control.

3) no, germaphobes are not freaks; we just cope with our anxiety in a different way than you. Oh gosh, how horrible, someone avoids germs and cleans things excessively, I can't think of any other coping method that could be more horrible...(Sarcasm)

4) no, it's not just your hand. It's every single hand, EVER. To make this easier to understand; imagine that you have a common fear: the fear of spiders. You know that feeling that you get when you see one and want to scream and run away? Imagine that every time you go to shake someone's hand, a big fat ugly spider is sitting on it. PLEASANT.

Many people (dumb people mainly) (kidding, but not really) (but kidding) (but not really), will ask me "well how come you can't just stop?" It's the same reason you don't jump off buildings and inhale water; fear. Although this fear seems irrational to most, it's a fear no less rational than the fear of death; because isn't that what all of our fears stem from anyway? And, if you ask me; death is a the most rational fear anyone could have ever.

Yeah, maybe there's a few steps between getting germs on your hands and dying (or maybe not), but there's also a few steps between jumping off a building and dying too (BAHAHAH, so morbid. Sorry, excuse my offensive sarcasm).

Facts

The worst part of a germaphobes' day is pressing the button to cross the street.

When you say baby, you might as well say germ.

We hold our breath in public restrooms.

When we say we're sick and don't want to shake your hand, we really mean we don't want to touch you

Now that you're all educated on the matter:

Here are some really good Gifs to even further your education about germaphobes.

What our ghost hand does every time someone tries to shake our real hand