When we say fear of contamination, we often think of women who scrub the floor day after day with toothbrushes and sponges to remove imaginary dirt. However, fear of contamination can sometimes manifest itself differently: people who live in a dirty house and are afraid to clean. These are the last people we would label as ,clean freaks,.
Obsession
In everyday life we quickly use the term obsession. An obsession manifests itself through obsessive behavior (compulsive behavior). It is not that the person who has an obsession cannot think of anything else. The obsession does dominate the person’s life and a normal life is made impossible by abnormal behavior.
The most well-known obsession is collecting mania. These people often collect anything and everything (sometimes also useless objects such as packaging material) and have difficulty throwing anything away. Another common obsession is fear of contamination.
Fear of contamination
Fear of contamination is sometimes called the urge to clean. This name only covers a small part of the problem and emphasizes the external behavior. With contamination fear, the person in question has a fear of everything that is dirty (the definition of dirt varies from person to person: for some this may be imaginary dirt or bacteria and for others it may be mud or other specific dirt). It usually manifests itself in compulsive cleaning or avoiding situations where he or she could get dirty.
Fear of contamination can be recognized by an exaggerated attention to hygiene (frequent washing of hands and self, use of heavy chemical cleaning products for daily maintenance, washing clothes often, etc.) and a great urge for perfection.
Contagiousness is often associated with women, but it also occurs in men. However, this is not so quickly detected in men because it concerns behavior that is not so quickly noticeable (unlike obsessive brushing) such as washing hands for a long time, not shaking hands with strangers, thoroughly brushing the toilet seat in strange places (or holding in urges), driving a car. excessively thorough cleaning, etc….
Dirty house and fear of contamination?
People with a fear of contamination often live in a clean environment and avoid dirty places (and sometimes also unknown places where they might be confronted with dirt). Yet there is a small number who do not live in a hygienic environment, but rather in unhealthy environments. These people are rarely associated with fear of contamination because their outward behavior does not correspond to what is expected with fear of contamination.
In this category there is, as it were, an overabundance of filth: they are aware of their dirty environment and are even afraid of it. Ideally, they would like to get rid of all the dirt, but that is not possible. This is because they don’t know where to start: there is so much work in their eyes (all imaginary dirt has to be removed) that they go crazy. It usually starts with a small job that has been left behind, but which in their eyes takes on enormous proportions and the dirty jobs gradually pile up. Eventually they reach a state where they completely ignore all dirt with consequences for their health and living conditions.
Back to a normal life
It’s easy to say, ,pick yourself up and get started,, but unfortunately, it’s not that easy. In addition to the amount of work they see, there is the problem that they are afraid of dirtying themselves. This fear is so great that they sometimes even ignore certain rooms and scrub themselves thoroughly to remove all dirt.
In rare cases, the person can get themselves out of this situation, but usually outside help is needed. Family and friends can provide advice and support, but this is rarely enough. Therefore, professional help is recommended.
Often this situation is the result of depression or stress and these people have a period of excessive hygiene (spotless house) followed by a period of unhygienic living conditions. The duration of the periods depends on the person in question and the circumstances. By investing a lot of energy in hygiene, they quickly run out of reserves and end up in a downward spiral that leads to excessive hygiene and the urge to clean if they have the least amount of energy. To heal, this cycle must be broken.
Sometimes medication can help. However, use of antidepressants is not without risks. There are many alternatives to get out of depression, such as a healthy lifestyle or seeking new challenges in life or a sabbatical period. This varies from person to person.
There are various therapies that help. In some cases, online therapy may be sufficient to gain insight into one’s own behavior, but usually real therapy (face to face) is much more effective.
Finally
Fear of contamination is a long-term problem: acute ,cleaning attacks, are not included. Sometimes a cleaning attack can also be therapeutic. Typical examples of acute urge to brush are pregnant women with nesting urges or some women just before their menstruation.