Too over the top with hand hygiene?

[elmo89]

Since covid hit and the message was sanatise and clean your hands all the time I’m finding it hard to see a way out of the mindset.
I’ve always been one to wash hands after the bathroom,before eating, after handling the bins etc etc and am quite funny about germs anyway. But since covid I am now doing things i wouldnt have before.
For example when out and about if i touch a door handle or a seatbelt in a taxi i have to sanatise my hands right away as if I dont I panic that the germs are then being passed onto my phone, keys,basically anything i own that I would then touch.
If i for some reason forget myself and don’t do it i panic that I am going to get sick and its going to be my own fault for forgetting to sanatise. And then i have to clean down the things ive touched.
When my son gets home from school I don’t let him touch anything until he scrubs his hands first.
Am I being unreasonable to think that we need to clean our hands after everything we touch outside of our house?
How likely are we to catch covid off a door handle? Am I being over the top?
If my son presses the button at the lights and I dont get to clean his hands right away then when he touches
his schoolbag I see the germs transferring on to his bag and then his clothes etc etc 🙈
I’m driving myself mad!

That's a deeply unhealthy mindset you've developed there.

You can't see germs for one thing, unless you're using a microscopes.

Panic is the indicator that this is no longer a rational desire - it sounds more like you've developed OCD.

Perhaps it's time to speak to your GP.

I’d also be concerned you’re passing this down to your son and will make him anxious. I agree that you should have a chat with your GP. What you’re doing is over the top.

It was established a very long time ago that Covid can't be caught from surfaces - it is a respiratory disease.
It sounds to me that you need help to overcome your irrational fears.

I am quite lax about germs. Will wash my hands after using the loo and before preparing food but that’s about it. I do not use sanitiser. Have not had COVID yet.

Can we catch Covid from surfaces - CDC website is worth a read OP.

That's not how you catch Covid.

It's sensible to wash your hands when coming onto the house (I've always done this anyway) and after using the loo and before eating. No need for any other times unless you've been gardening or they're dirty.

The only time I use sanitiser now is if we eat out but tbh I don't do that much anymore.

** before preparing food too

Yes sorry I don’t mean i literally see the germs I just mean in my head I imagine them being passed onto his schoolbag etc.
I try not to talk about it too much to him and its just become a normal thing as soon as we are home its shoes off and hands washed he doesnt seem too bothered. He is still a typical child who sticks his fingers up his nose and thinks nothing of it lol
but I do fear that I am stuck in a bad cycle.
Rationally I think to myself how many other people are doing this. Probably not many but I cant stop.

I think if you're doing the handwashing before you eat and after the loo you're doing the right thing. If you can I'd try not to wash your hands after touching door handles etc but don't touch your fact until you've done the hand washing before you eat/after the loo. It's the touching your face/food that gives you the illness.

Having said all that I use hand sanitiser after getting off the bus as it makes me feel better.

If you can't stop I think you should seek help as that's not a healthy mind set.

You should see your G.P. This is very unhealthy and is likely to continue to get worse.

I try not to talk about it too much to him and its just become a normal thing as soon as we are home its shoes off and hands washed he doesnt seem too bothered.

But do you rush to sanitise his hands after he touches anything outside eg the button at the lights?

Either way, I agree with PPs who have suggested you see a GP, as this sounds distressing for you, and could easily keep getting worse.

The first step is recognising it OP and thats great. Intrusive and obsessive thoughts are really counter productive and unhelpful and they try to control you so its about getting help to understand how to minimise what you feel

Theres no point anyone trying to tell you the facts of covid or any other disease which isnt spread by touch per se (or not as much as air bourne) because what you feel is what you feel.

I am worried that there are probably quite a lot of people living like this, i wonder what the impact will be about sanitiser later on down the line. Ive never used it apart from when forced at the doctors surgery and places like that. Pointless stuff. Also the irony was I had to take my gloves off, put the sanitiser on and put my gloves back on!!! How that helped anything I dont know

I really feel for you and I’m sure you’re not the only one, it’s perfectly understandable that you could develop an obsession with this after everything we’ve all been through in the last few years and all the mixed messaging we were getting.

Try to remember that we all survived just fine without obsessive hand washing and sanitising before 2020 and there were plenty of bugs and germs around then too. It’s very sensible to wash your hands when you get home, before you eat, after using the loo and after doing anything icky like bins. It’s also good to minimise touching your face and putting your hands in your mouth when out and about (easier said than done for me as I’m a terrible nail biter!) but there really aren’t lethal germs lurking on every surface that are going to kill you if you don’t antibac your hands every 30 seconds.

Agree that if this is turning into panic and starting to affect your life then you need to get some help, starting with your GP. CBT would probably be so, so helpful for challenging your thought patterns around this.

Hugely unreasonable and it's a very unhealthy mindset to pass on to your son. Please get yourself some help before it gets even worse.

I only really wash my hands after using the bathroom, cleaning the litter boxes and before cooking. I never get sick.

@BaaCake , you wrote "it's the touching your face/food that gives you the illness". No it's not.

I think you do need to reset your expectations. It’s more important to make sure that when you wash your hands you do it properly than to be doing it instantly every time you touch something. As others have said, this isn’t how you catch Covid anyway.

Is it not? I thought it was. Just having ecoli on your hands is fine? I may have been misinformed.

At the height of covid, we did the lot , wipe down trolley handles , wipe shopping before putting away. Now we only wash hands when coming back indoors .

you sound like my DM. It’s not a healthy mindset at all.

I wouldn’t advise letting your son lick the button at the traffic lights, but just touching it doesn’t not require immediate decontamination. You’ll probably make your selves more susceptible to germs this way.

Not being exposed to pathogens isn't going to do you any favours.

I wash hands after toilet, before prepping food and eating and after coming into the house from a day out and about.

I generally don't have hand sanitizer on me now but when I used public transport I'd sanitise after. Atm machines and traffic light buttons etc I was brought up to use knuckles rather than finger tips unless ill be washing my hands shortly.

I think something bedded in for you early pandemic. I understand that, I still am very aware when I've touched public surfaces, but as others have said, it's been estabished that surfaces are low risk for covid. The advice to stop sticking our fingers in our eyes and mouths is however a good one. It's known that our phones, like pens and door knobs and our bodies generally, harbour many bugs, but its not likely that we will get covid from them.

It's only lately that I've stopped being so manic about sanitising. I'd always have washed hands after coming in or touching a trolley and still do. I forgot my sanitiser after changing handbags and it wasn't available except in public areas, I think this started how I stopped being so obsessive.

I don't blame your thinking OP, there was so much we were told and if like me, you had extra reasons for not getting sick, Covid restrictions were adhered to in excess. I now don't have sanitiser in my bag cos when I need it I can use public ones, I also would have 1 mask in my bag whereas I would have had a choice before.

Try baby steps of only using public sanitiser stations and breaking it down a bit. It honestly is freeing to not have that constant screaming in your head of "DON'T TOUCH THAT"

I have been reluctant to phone the GP as I dont think they will do anything to help me other than put me on a ridiculous waiting list or just palm me off and tell me to just stop obsessing.
It is sad as things I think about now I never would have let bother me before. Like taking my son to the park I then feel like his clothes are dirty and if he then sits on furniture in the house then my furniture is dirty so I try to get him changed out of those trousers when we het home if I can by just subtly saying o will we get our pjs on and get comfy so he doesnt think anything of it. I don’t speak openly about my fears with him so as not to pass on my unhealthy habits.I do have a compulsive personality as I have also struggled with an eating disorder and so hate the feeling of not having control over things.

Its about the language you use OP when you ask for help from the GP. GPs are pretty rubbish at all things MH and they often have to be told what you need and how to provide that for you. All very well if you're insightful to know and thankfully you are

So first stage of getting through the receptionist is to say that you want an appointment with either the GP or the practice nurses to discuss your MH and what ongoing referrals you need, if the practice nurse cannot do that role then obviously its the GP you need

You need to talk about how youve recognised that your thoughts and obsessions are out of control, at the moment they have taken the form of worrying about germs and bugs etc but as you say, you have historically had other issues and anxiety will simply hang itself on whatever is pertinent at the time, so you dont want it then morphing into something else

You probably need some sort of CBT type of input to reframe the obsessive feelings and manage the compulsions so ask for a referral for this. I would try not to be fobbed off with just anxiety medication, although that might be useful, you really need some behavioural input as well.