For me how ever it is something I have been doing as long as I remember. I think it all stems from when as a child I would go with my father to his place of work. You may think how did this make you hate germs, well he worked for the sewage department. Smelling and watching other peoples waste going around in a huge tank. Really puts you off wanting to touch let alone be around filth and germs.
Growing up my parents would not let us have a normal picnic on the floor in the grass with the insects, we used to picnic in the car instead. If my dad saw one fly in the house it would be panic stations.
Then in November 2008 I thought I had a bad chest infection, I could hardly breath walking up stairs was like climbing a mountain, It got so bad that my oxygen levels were so low I should of died. I had pneumonia. Not being able to breath is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, coughing up black phlegm and feeling like you are drowning from the inside is something I would never wish on anyone. From that point on my issues with germs really started.
I taught myself to not touch certain things. I am not clean freak, I have a dog who brings in probably more germs that I would like to know, I do not have the energy to clean and wipe down everywhere. But every time I fuss Ralph I will make an effort not to touch my face until I have washed my hands, I am pretty sure I wash my hands around 20 times a day even before this all happened. Even touching door handles, light switches and other items at home I never touch my face without washing my hands, touching raw meat I will always wash my hands about 4 times afterwards, in between cleaning down the area where the raw meat had been twice and leaving antibacterial spray on the area for at least 5 minutes before touching it.
But yet my house isn't perfect, it's got dust, dirt and dog splashes on the walls just like most normal houses, I wish it didn't have but my body won't let me clean as much as I wish I could. The pain my body is in most days stops me doing simple things, but if I do clean I am in agony for days. But I try my best every day to do something. Even if it is just sweeping the floors.
Before Covid 19 I would never touch a door handle in a shop, cinema, hotel. I would clean remote controls in hotels before I would use them. I would hold my breath for as long as possible if someone coughed near me. I wouldn't touch my face until I had got home and washed my hands. Not because I was scared of getting something, but because I was petrified. But now I realise I was just being prepared for something like this. My husbands has always laughed at me for doing what I have done, but now I know it was just preparation!
