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Do you worry about germs and getting ill?

Toxic

Do germs and the idea of getting ill worry you? I’ve wondered if this is related to autism as no one else in my family gets anxious about germs and illnesses. I’m the only neurodiverse one in my family and I’ve realized no one is freaked out by getting sick. I heard on the car radio about the recent norovirus outbreak and after work yesterday and this morning after going in town I came home washed my hands several times with soap and water, washed my phone with disinfectant and then changed all my clothes and put the worn clothes through the wash. I'm always told I overreact over this but to me it’s normal and makes sense to do this. Why risk infecting myself when I can disinfect items and reduce my chances of getting a cold of stomach virus? An early example was when I was at school a girl came in class and said she had been ill yesterday and I got so frightened I nearly had a panic attack and moved to a different table. It's always been something that worries me.

Parents

  • I used to be pretty relaxed when it comes to germs, because I had a very good immune system and barely got sick. Since Covid however, I tend to get sick a bit more often. That might be related to the long isolation which prevented the immune system from getting confronted with germs, but also to stress, little sleep and I had quite a poor eating schedule for quite some time (used to go nearly 24 hours a time without food on a regular basis). Now that I’m getting ill more frequently, I also worry a lot, but mainly because I can’t stand the thought of my schedule being messed up and the worst thing sensory wise is running a fever. Being ill is a sensory disaster and it takes ages for me to get back on schedule, thus creating anxiety around being ill. It often got to the point where I knew I was getting ill but chose to push through without consideration because of the anxiety about loosing track of my routine.

Reply

  • I used to be pretty relaxed when it comes to germs, because I had a very good immune system and barely got sick. Since Covid however, I tend to get sick a bit more often. That might be related to the long isolation which prevented the immune system from getting confronted with germs, but also to stress, little sleep and I had quite a poor eating schedule for quite some time (used to go nearly 24 hours a time without food on a regular basis). Now that I’m getting ill more frequently, I also worry a lot, but mainly because I can’t stand the thought of my schedule being messed up and the worst thing sensory wise is running a fever. Being ill is a sensory disaster and it takes ages for me to get back on schedule, thus creating anxiety around being ill. It often got to the point where I knew I was getting ill but chose to push through without consideration because of the anxiety about loosing track of my routine.

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