While I was researching a bit to prepare to write a new post I found something that immediately caught my attention and is that it is a type of problem that closely resembles something that happens to me every day. I refer to a type of phobia that affects people, a phobia that is directed to dirt or rather to always want to be clean.

Speaking a little more about how this affects me, I have to say that maybe my problem does not reach the level of a phobia that I am going to talk about, but it is certainly incredibly strange, and that is that I am personally obsessed with having clean hands to the point I wash them constantly no matter where or with whom.

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This obsession that I carry with me extends to such an extreme point that I am able to wash my hands after touching things as simple as my keys or even after using the computer (yes after writing this post I also wash my hands), in fact something funny is that when I go out to eat I try as much as possible to order something that I do not have to use my hands to touch the food directly (yes, I am one of the people who eats pizza with a fork and knife).

I always thought that this was nothing but a little madness of mine, but when I discovered that it really was something real and that it was a phobia called "rupophobia" I immediately said to myself, I have to write about this.

Rupophobia

As I have been saying, Rupophobia is the phobia that consists of the fear we develop of dirtiness and that is usually severely related to obsessive-compulsive disorders like mine to constantly wash my hands.

This type of phobias, like many others, falls within the phobias of specific things because they are detonated by a particular fear, even though this fear may not be so specific if it is well defined. For example, Rupophobia is the fear of dirt period, this dirt can be of any kind but it must be dirt after all and even if it does not seem specific it is. However, there are other fears that are a bit more specific such as germaphobia, which is the fear of dirt but focused exclusively on germs.

As I said the main trigger of this phobia is having to interact with anything that we think may contaminate or "dirty", it may seem strange because we will always be prone to get germs or to be in contact with things that contaminate us.

A determining factor in this and other types of phobias is their strong relationship with obsessive-compulsive disorders, because like obsessive-compulsive disorders these phobias are characterized mainly by obsessing with something to the point that this type of obsessions comes into force the life of people.

The relationship of this phobia with obsessive-compulsive disorders is very intense since many phobias of this type are generated from the constant obsession that some people have with their cleanliness or not to get dirty. This is where I emphasize once again my constant obsession (yes it is an obsession) to wash my hands at every moment I can, and that although it seems harmless in the future this type of obsessions can trigger some major problem.

In fact a recognized example of this type of phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorders related to dirt, we can see it in the movie of Leonardo di Caprio The aviator where he plays Howard Hughes a millionaire obsessed with cleanliness to the point of bringing his own soap (I do the same, I carry my antibacterial gel wherever I go).

This type of phobias is extremely complicated to diagnose since in the eyes of the majority it is always a simple obsession, however like everything in life when that obsession goes to an extreme where it can no longer be controlled it is necessary that be treated and diagnosed as a phobia, so if you, like me, have some kind of obsession associated with dirt, it may not be a bad idea to visit a doctor.

Some symptoms of rupophobia

Like many types of psychological diseases, rupophobia also brings with it some symptoms and consequences that affect the lives of people severely, most of these symptoms are oriented to the psychological field of people and are usually anxiety attacks that constantly attack the mind people.

Anxiety attacks are very frequent due to the intense reaction generated by rupophobia in people, these reactions are mainly based on wanting to eradicate the dirt that we have been able to contract, or in many cases the proximity we feel to come in contact with some type of contaminant. In fact, taking up the case of Howard Hughes his anxiety attacks were so uncontrolled that he used to stay at home without leaving for a long time, all to avoid any possible external contact that would lead him to contaminate his body.

Other symptoms of this phobia are triggered by the anxiety and panic attacks themselves and are usually characterized by small crises where the person who has rupophobia can have:

• Increase in heart rate.
• Constant sweating and chilling sensation.
• Feeling short of breath or choking
• Chest pains
• Nausea
• Dizziness and fainting
• Paranoia

Rupophobia is one of the most complicated and intense phobias for people who suffer from it because they are unable to stop experiencing the fear of dirt because for them there is no totally safe environment where they can not get some kind of pollutant.

Final words

There are currently no specific causes that lead us to think about why people get these types of phobias and usually it is normally thought that one of the causes may be hereditary, however, not in all cases.

Note that as in most psychological problems this phobia could be the result of a traumatic problem that has been caused in some way by the contact with dirt, or in other cases, people who are obsessed with cleaning often develop these phobias as a mechanism to deal with others. In short, people who tend to want to keep everything completely neat develop a fear of dirtiness.

However in other more specific cases people develop these phobias as a mechanism through which they can protect themselves against the potential risks of contracting diseases, an example of this can be clearly seen in the series [The big bang theory](https: // en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory) where the main character usually avoids any contact as a way to avoid getting any kind of diseases.

As you have been able to realize, rupophobia is one of the phobias that most rapidly and most commonly can be developed and that represents a severe problem in the way people live their lives, since it takes them to a point where isolation is their main weapon and weakness.

References

• Rupophobia
• Rupophobia (Fear of Dirt)
• Rupophobia- Fear of dirt
• Misophobia – Fear / Phobia of Dirt
• Mysophobia