To be scared of hand dryers?

[trollopeater]

I am a 47 year old woman and I am scared of hand dryers. The sort you find in public loos. The worst of all or those bastard new Dyson things.

I HATE the noise. I can use them, but they make me really really really uncomfortable. If I am sat having a tinkle and I hear the one outside the cubicle going off, my heart will freeze.

I feel better if I'm in a cubicle and someone sets off the dryer because it'll mask the sound of a little escapee fart.

Break this down. What are you afraid of them doing to you?

I know they can do absolutely nothing! It's just the loudness of the noise

I absolutely hate the noise and so does DD
(I probably have ADHD)
The noise hurts me and I also hate the sensation

My DS hates them too. When we use public loos he refuses to let me dry my hands . DP takes him to the loos nowadays

Well, obviously that is not a normal, rational reaction, therefore YABU. That doesn’t mean your feelings are not genuine though. But you should probably work on them.

I've read that they can actually act as a germ incubator and spreader (more so than paper towels, at least), so maybe it's not so unreasonable as it might seem...

Here's one link to the type of study I mean:

www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20141121/restroom-hand-dryers-spread-more-germs-than-paper-towels-study-finds

My daughter is petrified of these too. But she is 2.

I'm scared of them for a different reason. I was in this McDonald's using that bathroom and hand dryer maybe 15 minutes before this happened so I've never used one since 🤷‍♂️. Basically a young girl was electrocuted (and died) using one due to some faulty wiring/water of the floor 😭

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/1125856.stm

Very extreme I realise but it always stuck with me

My daughter is petrified of these too. But she is 2.

Perfectly reasonable. Hand dryers are responsible for more deaths worldwide each year then cancer, heart disease and pogo sticks

My niece used to be scared of them. I carried a small towel in my bag to dry her hands.

Do you have Aspergers/HFA? It's one of the standard things that always seems to crop up with aspie sensory hypersensitivities.