To worry about the germs that might come with a library book?

[ASnowballsChance]

I think I suffer from health anxiety and now it's spreading to worrying about things that have never crossed my mind until now.....

We are big readers and to keep up with the amount DC read we regularly borrow from the library but now I'm freaking out about all the germs and creepy crawlies (bed bugs mainly) that we might be bringing into our home.

AIBU to never want to borrow a library book again?!

If you think you suffer from health anxiety, you don't suffer from health anxiety. It's an extremely dehibilitating condition and should not be minimised.

"Germs" don't generally survive a long time outside the body, especially on a surface such as paper. It's very unlikely you or your DC could catch anything from them.

There are billions of them living inside you.

Yeah every time you touch pretty much anything you are touching faecal matter or other stuff. Money is particularly grotty. If you go down that rabbit hole it will completely take over your life.

There was an article by an eminent leukaemia researcher recently that attributed the rise in childhood leukaemia to overuse of antibacterial wipes and hand gel etc. Germs are a normal part of life.

I guess it's bed bugs I'm mainly worried about. Simulation maybe not health anxiety, maybe anxiety generally.

As a kid I read a minimum of 7 library books a week.

60 years later I'm still here...

I hate library books that smell of cigarette smoke. Luckily my library always has a display of new books, so I head for them first , then sniff any others!

You need to see your GP for your anxiety.

Saying that, i am very casual about hygiene, I eat food if it falls on the floor etc, and have the stomach of an ox and don't get ill. No sick day for years and years. Both ds's are the same. Both nearly full attendance since they started school ten years ago. So maybe I'm not the best person to ask!

I've also wondered whether some people read library books while on the loo....

YABU my Mum's a librarian. Never caught anything from the books, and she reads loads.

Anyway a few germs are good for a healthy immune system. I often eat after mucking out the horse, eat food past its use by date etc and rarely get so much as a cold, have never suffered any sort of tummy bug.

Get some help before this takes over your life.

A friend's mum didn't let her borrow from libraries because of the germs and also not eat sandwiches or cake at things like fetes because they would have been "breathed on".

I sort of saw her point, but honestly life is too short and pleasures are rare. At least that's what I tell myself when hoovering up sandwiches and cheap fiction. I've never caught anything from a library book.

Your health anxiety is the only health issue you need to be anxious about, not bed bugs from library books! I disagree with PP - don't minimise at risk of offending, better to catch it now and deal with it before it becomes fully debilitating. This is definitely not normal.

Wait until the germ riddled class bear comes to stay...first thing ours did was have a great time in the washing machine!
At least half the parents in our class do this. They’re probably not as germ riddled as you think.

YABU. This is irrational. What Sarahjconnor said ^

When I was at college I used to wipe down the pages of study books with disinfectant even though my friends laughed at me, and you should have seen the muck that came off!

Could that "muck" have been ink? I imagine it is damaging the books, won't need too many disinfectant wipers to make the text unreadable.

Specifically what germs are you concerned about. Most don’t last long off the body you know.
I honestly think one of the most valuable thing they could teach in school is risk assessment..people genuinely seem to have no idea!

My elderly neighbour when we were growing up used to put library books in the oven before she read them. I don't know what heat or how long - and these wouldn't have plastic covers - but you could do that if it makes you more comfortable? As long as you're ok to cover the cost of replacement if there's a problem?

A quick Google says that people are putting RFID chips in people, so I'm assuming a low oven temperature wouldn't kill it - although a microwave would.

Any librarians about?

My DH has chronic myeloid leukaemia and a compromised immune system as a result and even I couldn't get upset over a library book - I did get quite cross that he spent a significant amount of time in an enclosed space yesterday with someone at work (his first day back) who has a bad cold and didn't consider that it could potentially be dangerous.

I really think you need to get help with your anxiety, it's not good for you or your family.

So thinking you may suffer from health anxiety is minimising it? and people who 'really' have it don't know they have it?

Bonkers!

Are bed bugs a thing in he 21st century? I thought they were practically extinct these days.It seems a very Dickensian thing to fear.

Meh, theres loads of germs on pretty much every inch of any public space. I wouldn't worry too much, plus kids are going to be sharing books and that at school which is pretty much the same thing. Just maybe, get some hand sanitizer and get them to do it when they finish a library book/when leaving library or something?

No Vulpine, as someone with severe health anxiety and ptsd, I mean if you have it, you'll know about it!

I have a friend with similar anxiety about germs and hygiene. It's really affected her sons to the point that my 2 children have noticed their strange behaviour. ONe of them refuses to touch anything when we are out with his bare hands because of germs. He even cleans bowling balls before touching them when we go bowling and will only pick them up with a towel he brings from home. He has his own cloth to wipe down glasses before taking a drink, the other day we were having brunch with them and he had to wash his hands for a third time because he'd touched the table and was worried that it was dirty etc etc. We just ignore it and let him get on with it but I can see that he is highly anxious and instead of being a kid and enjoying himself he's constantly on high alert. I am sure it's his mum's issues that have contributed.