Mysophobia – Symptoms, Causes, Risk factors, and Treatments

What is mysophobia?

Phobia means to fear certain things or situations. Phobias can be common for people, and they can vary from one person to another. Some people may fear change, and is called metathesiophobia. Some people can have a fear of dogs called cynophobia.

Mysophobia is fear of germs and is also called as germophobia. Mysophobia denotes extreme fear of germs, and people with this type of phobia tend to avoid certain situations that make them exposed to germs.

Mysophobia causes an obsession with contamination. Some of the other names for mysophobia are germophobia, verminophobia, bacteriophobia and bacillophobia.

When a person has mysophobia, they can become very anxious. For example, if contamination has occurred in the food they eat. They will avoid the food, and they will have the feeling of getting sick.

Phobias can lead to intense and aggressive feelings. It can trigger unusual thoughts later in the stage, making it difficult to control them.

There are certain ways to find out if a person has mysophobia. They are given below.

• They tend to avoid contact with other people’s body fluids like sweat.
• They fear germs, dust and molds.
• They avoid contaminated foods. Even if the food was kept open for a short period of time, they would not eat that food because of mysophobia.
• People with mysophobia will avoid touching certain surfaces if it is not clean.

There are certain other fears associated with mysophobia.

• Ataxophobia is the fear of untidiness.
• Fear of small things is called microphobia.
• Fear of disease is called nosophobia.
• Fear of death is called thanatophobia.
• Fear of animals is called zoophobia.

Difference between mysophobia and OCD

Mysophobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be interrelated. OCD is repeated obsessions and unwanted thoughts that can cross a person’s mind. These thoughts can lead to stress, anxiety and depression.

The stress caused due to these thoughts can have an impact on daily activities, and routine life can be affected. This can lead to compulsive acts and becomes a ritualistic behaviour to combat depression and stress.

According to NCBI, mysophobia can be one of the prevalent types of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

People affected with OCD will perform certain ritualistic behaviour to relieve the stress caused, whereas people with mysophobia will do certain activities to remove the germs that have contaminated their bodies.

Causes & Risk factors of mysophobia

The causes of mysophobia are not really known, but some of the following factors can be the causes.

Hereditary

We follow certain rituals just because our parents have followed them. So mysophobia may have a hereditary link.

People with mysophobia might have seen their parents decontaminate often. These actions could have been subconsciously passed to the next generation.

Another factor is phobia can have a genetic link, and it can be passed from the ancestral generation to the current generation.

Traumatic experience

A traumatic experience like getting affected by a major illness can also trigger mysophobia. They tend to think that the illness might have been caused due to contamination, and decontamination can often prevent such illnesses.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

OCD can also be expressed as mysophobia. People can have the habit of cleaning their hands often or decontaminating the contaminated area.

Symptoms of mysophobia

Mysophobia symptoms can vary from one person to another. Mysophobia, in common, can induce the habit of cleaning very often. Other symptoms of mysophobia can be anxiety and panic about germs.

Physical symptoms

Some of the common physical symptoms are listed below.

• They become more anxious if they expose themself to the contaminated area.
• There can be sweating and rapid breathing.
• They tend to yell and experience sudden meltdowns.

Behavioural symptoms

Behavioural symptoms can sometimes become physical symptoms. Some of the common behavioural symptoms are listed below.

People with mysophobia wash their hands often, thinking their hands have been contaminated and should be cleaned immediately.

• They overuse any cleaning products.
• They will always carry sanitising products to public places they travel.
• They will avoid touching certain public places like public restaurants. For example, they will have the urge to urinate, but they will not use public restaurants, thinking they will be unclean.
• They think that home is the only safe place, and other places may be exposed to germs.
• They will avoid the usage of public transport.

Diagnosis of mysophobia

Mysophobia will not require medical diagnosis, and from certain behaviours, we can tell whether the person is affected by mysophobia or not.

The fear of germs can be seen in the actions of the people affected with phobia. They can stress themself from the fear of contamination. These fears can trigger certain actions.

The fear of germs can be diagnosed with simple speech therapy, and the degree of mysophobia can be evaluated. With the degree of mysophobia, the level of impairment can be evaluated. When mysophobia is diagnosed, there is a possibility of OCD co-occurring.

Treatment for mysophobia

The treatment for mysophobia will concentrate on reducing the anxiety and keeping their fear in check.

Medication

Medication will be used to treat people affected with extreme mysophobia. Mysophobia assisted with OCD will be treated using medication.

Beta-blockers can help reduce the symptoms like anxiety, fear and fear-induced stress. Antidepressants are prescribed for people who have major anxiety problems.

Medication can help ease the symptoms of mysophobia. However, there is certain therapy which should be assisted to fully cure the fear of germs.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is also called counselling. Trained personnel will help the patients to talk about their vulnerabilities and fears. The professional, after hearing their fears, will help to overcome these fears and live in peace.

Psychotherapy will also modify or reduce the symptoms of anxiety and reduce stress, which will help in personal growth.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy can be used to treat people who exhibit more aggressive behaviour. This therapy will help people reduce their fear of germs and relieve the symptoms of stress and anxiety.

Cognitive behavioural therapy aims to bring breathing under control when a person is under stress and improves mindful behaviour.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is a specialised form of cognitive behavioural therapy. This therapy is mainly administered for phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Exposure therapy is usually considered safe and can be effective when handled by professionals.

According to scientific research, exposure therapy has shown proven results for people with mysophobia to overcome anxiety and fear.

However, exposure therapy should be handled with care. There is a chance of people getting re-traumatised by their fears. So, in most cases, exposure therapy is followed by relaxation techniques and therapy.

Stress management

Stress management will help people and guide them to manage the stress caused by fear. Medication will be administered to people affected by mysophobia. Medication will help reduce the fear and can control their anxiety.

Sometimes, getting disconnected from the outer world can result in unwanted anxiety and stress. When we try to connect with the outer world, the stress and fear may be reduced.

Prevention of mysophobia

Some fears may be inevitable, but they can be overcome or prevented when they are diagnosed at an early stage.

• Lower the stress level to avoid getting affected by any kind of phobias.
• Alcohol consumption and smoking can increase the phobia. So quit the habit of alcohol and smoking.
• Sometimes, developing new hobbies can help with the phobia.
• Just like you take care of your physical health, manage your mental health to avoid getting affected by phobias.

Conclusion

Phobias are very normal and can be treated with certain therapy like exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy. It is also important to seek help when you realise you have such phobias.

These phobias can be assisted with other conditions like OCD. So seeking help at the right time will help us nib anxiety and depression at an early stage.

At the same, we have to realise everyone is battling their own battles. And it is our duty to be kind to our fellow beings. We can reduce our judgemental attitude and help our fellow humans who need help.

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