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?!

The only place you should give concern to germs is the kitchen worktops/sink, and toilet/bathroom basin.

I don’t think it’s normal to worry about this to the extent that it’s stopping you from using a library. The odds of you catching anything from a library book, or bringing bedbugs into your home on one, must be minuscule.

I agree with pp’s suggestions to see your GP about getting help with your anxiety before it gets worse.

I said I had anxiety.

One poster suggested my list of things were normal-ish.

More than 5 posters have used phrases or terminology that implies it's weird / strange and they don't know how we have headspace to worry about such things. Not exactly supportive.

This thread is an eye opener to me on many levels. Firstly, it confirms I have a problem and need to seek professional help (I'm grateful to the OP for starting the thread). Secondly, that we still have such a long way to go in mental health awareness. As above, there is some dismissive comments on this thread - almost as though the struggles that I and others have are funny.

Finally, the other eye opener for me is that posters should consider that an actual person is reading their response on a thread. Actually, potentially 1000+ views of this thread, of which someone may read it and be helped. Before posting, people should ask themselves - is it kind, is it helpful and is it relevant? If it isn't any of those things, perhaps don't bother posting.

I cant read a library book as seeing encrusted bodies, blood and hairs in the pages makes me feel ill. I've also seen little transparent spiders on the pages too.
Kindle all the way for me.
I dont stop my DC from going to the library. But I cringe internally.

Bodies = bogies

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

This is crap and damaging attitude to have about mental health.

Would you advise a friend who confided they thought they might be depressed that they couldn't possibly be if they "only think it" and that they were "minimizing" your own suffering by even suggesting it?

The only person who can make calls like that is a health professional and people should not be discouraged for voicing concerns about their own mental health.

@HotClothCleanse

You are incredibly touchy. You said you had anxiety and looked for reassurance. People telling you that your routines are "normal" is not positive when your routines aren't. People telling you that your routines are not normal has helped you.

My post wasn't intended to be unkind. I genuinely don't have the head space to even think about germs at this level. I'm surprised that other people do.

As for informative, my sentence about the antibac gel causing antibiotic resistance is something a lot of people don't realise.

HotCloth I'm glad I started the thread too and will definitely be making an appointment to see my GP. I like to think my 'issues' haven't affected my DC yet but I'm sure they will pick up on them at some point. I really don't want them living their life like me. It's mentally exhausting.

THat's very brave and an excellent responsible adult thing to do, @ASnowballsChance - trying to break the cycle.

Good luck

Jeez, seriously get a grip OP

Please read up about how long germs can live on paper before you worry unduly. I don't personally know how long it is; if it's years then you've got cause for your concern, but if it's minutes, you'll all be fine!

My mum followed the "kids' immune systems need germs" as an excuse not to clean much and my brother and I (now in our 40s) have the strongest immune systems of anyone we know. So I'm sure there's something in the theory.

I've been borrowing library books for over 65 years and have yet to catch anything from their pages.

We touch and handle numerous things during the course of a day, trying to avoid touching things in case of the germs they might harbour is going to make life very hard.

You need to address these anxieties OP before they get any worse or they will start to ruin your life.

Don't you have to wear gloves whilst handling such old manuscripts ?

Does anyone here remember that episode of Undateables with that woman who had such bad OCD she was barely living? Couldn't sit near people or walk near them, wiped absolutely everything down with antibacterial wipes, wouldn't allow people into her home etc.

This is how it starts.

Please get help for your health anxiety before it spirals or your children start to pick up your behaviour. A life with anxiety is a life only half lived.

I’ve worked in libraries for more than 30 years. I don’t believe books have ever made me ill.

Gloves for old manuscripts are to protect the manuscript not the glove wearer from the germs!

From this thread I can see an insight into why my relatives wipe down what feels like the entire restaurant before their 3yo sits to eat. Meanwhile he's licking the floor 🤣

Don't you have to wear gloves whilst handling such old manuscripts ?

No. Wearing gloves causes one’s hands to be less dextrous and more likely to damage fragile manuscripts. There are techniques for working with manuscripts that you learn in training as an historian. Handling photographs, on the other hand, you’ll generally be asked to wear cotton gloves.

I can’t help visualising someone sitting on the toilet and reading a book which someone else has read. Before you ask I don’t do that but i have heard others mention it casually. If I read in the toilet it is always a magazine I am going to dispose of.

I used to be the only woman working in an office full of men. Every day the single, solitary newspaper would be taken into the lavatory for half an hour+ by each of them. As one reader came back from the "library", he would dump the paper on the desk of the next one, and then he would disappear.

It was the most disgusting ritual you can imagine.

From this thread I can see an insight into why my relatives wipe down what feels like the entire restaurant before their 3yo sits to eat. Meanwhile he's licking the floor

I agree with you OP. I never take books out from a library for that reason. They really smell. Any school books are read at a desk and not in bed at home. By they have moved all reading books to online now, so that's good.

@Treaclepie19 Thanks for your post. I hadn't remotely considered that my little rules (which I tend to keep to myself) could be connected with OCD. I do have depression, occasionally very severe depression, so why it didn't strike me as an issue, I can't think.

Dog poo is my most problematic one. Of course, no one likes stepping in it, but it genuinely preoccupies my thoughts every time I step out of the house. Walking in the woods/park/footpaths where dog walkers go means I'm constantly yelling 'Look out for poo' at the kids and scanning the ground instead of enjoying the scenery. On the few occasions where I have stepped in it, my shoes are wiped, spend several weeks on the doorstep (to let the smell lose its potency), and then need to be soaked in disinfectant before coming back in the house.

Ok, I should really do something about this, shouldn't I?

@SignOnTheWindow I've been the same with dog poo. I can honestly say now I've worked so hard on it that I can function now. I can walk my son to school and not obsess over our shoes.
OCD is sneaky and it progresses really fast. Get some support now while you're strong enough to get out

To make you feel better, I once didn't wear a pair of boots for 2 years because someone threw up by me at a gig.

SignOnTheWindow I'm like that but with vomit.... Constantly on the look out for it on pavements, in parks, in supermarkets etc. If I manage to clock any then the shoes come off before we get into the car and put on a separate bag in the boot then they get bleached on the bottom to within an inch of their lives then put in quarantine in the shed for 12 days (norovirus lifespan on objects).

I really hate myself sometimes.

Wearing gloves causes one’s hands to be less dextrous and more likely to damage fragile manuscripts.

Yes, when my local record office briefly tried out gloves, they were too big for me, and I couldn't turn the pages in a volume when I was wearing them. I was glad when they stopped.

Similarly when you see archaeologists in scene of crime suits and masks, it's to ensure they don't contaminate the site with modern DNA, not to protect the archaeologists from germs.