I hate this.

[Meyer_Gdmnx]

I went to a job interview today and used the public restroom and am now convinced I’m going to be desperately unwell have a stomach bug or catch one kind of horrible life threatening bug

[Amz1987]

Did you wash your hands really well after? If so I’m sure you will be fine I don’t think I’ve ever become sick from using public rest rooms.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Amz1987]

Thank you for your reply Amz I did when I got home which was another 20-30 minutes☹️ I used the flusher button that’s what scares me they someone I’ll touched it

[Amz1987 in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

Have you got antibacterial wipes or anything that you can have in your car/bag so you can clean your hands up after situations like this.

I’m very sure though that you will be ok.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Amz1987]

I don’t no but that’s a very good idea thank you for that advice. Thank you for your help I’m sure I’ll be okay too it happened nearly 12 hours ago snd I washed my hands when I came home

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Amz1987]

Thank you for your reply again

[Amz1987 in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

You’re welcome. I hope you’re feeling less worried about it soon

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Amz1987]

Thank you if there’s ever anything I can do for you just send me a message I’ll be more than happy to help

[Amz1987 in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

Thank you.

[Agora1]

Meyer....I agree with Amz1987. I recently heard that it's not the toilet seat

you have to worry about but the door handle on the stall.

As long as you wash your hands well, you will be okay. xx

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Agora1]

Thanks for the reply Agora it was helpful. I did when I got home but that was 30 minutes after the going into the toilet

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Agora1]

I also used the handle☹️

[hypercat54]

Hi I think the worst you could catch from using a public toilet is a cold or a virus. I have never heard of anyone catching anything else. Your body is very good at dealing with any minor infections as your autoimmune systen will deal with it. x

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to hypercat54]

Thanks again Hypercat comments re always helpful I hope everything is going well with you ❤️

[hypercat54 in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

Beware of turning into Howard Hughes! x

thejc.com/lifestyle/feature...

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to hypercat54]

Oh wow that was certainly an eye opener. I am going to therapy at the end of the month and hopefully I will gain some good coping skills to deal with this. Thank you for your that link again hypercat sending you all the best wishes I can ❤️

[hypercat54 in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

You are very welcome my friend. x

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to hypercat54]

❤️

[Want2BHappy3]

You must be germafobic? Why didn't you use a seat cover? I read that people don't get sick from using toilets that often.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Want2BHappy3]

Hi thank you for your reply I thankfully didn’t use the seat I just pushed the flusher with my finger but thanks for the advice I’ll certainly keep that in mind

[Want2BHappy3 in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

Your welcome,

[Beevee in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

How did you develop your phobia about germs or are your fears more generalised and not limited to germs?

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Beevee]

Hi Beeve thanks for replying it just came out of nowhere really there was no trigger point my worries are more general yes for instance now I have a headache and am terrified about it

[Beevee in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

Ok. In my opinion, your only phobia is the symptoms of your anxiety which can either be physical or mental i.e. exaggerated thoughts. Once you have gotten over troublesome thoughts about germs or your health, it is replaced by something else. This will continue while you have anxiety. Addressing each and every issue will not not help in your recovery as you are not addressing the root cause which is anxiety itself. You are just fighting the symptoms of anxiety and will go round in circles. Anxiety is tricking you into thinking the issue is to do with germs or problems with your health. The same happened to me. I spent ages trying to figure out why I had all these new found fears, trying to appease them, changing my behaviours to avoid things. Gradually, I figured out that these fears were not real (they felt very real), they were just anxious thoughts created by an overly anxious mind so I started to let go. I stopped identifying with them, stopped engaging with them and just gave them the space to do whatever they wanted to do (frighten me). I accepted and allowed it all to happen, lock stock and barrel. By allowing it all to happen and not doing anything to try and stop it, those scary thoughts and feelings faded away to nothing. They disappeared completely. I no longer have anxious thoughts.

Like I always say, those scary thoughts and feelings wouldn't be there if you didn't have anxiety and all the more reason to let go of them. It's just anxious energy coming up for release so the trick is to let it be released and try not to interfere with this ( healing) process. The more you accept, instead of fighting to think and feel differently, the more you recover.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Beevee]

Thank you for your reply it was really really helpful I think you have a wonderful attitude which I really want to adopt hopefully with time I will I really really appreciate the time you took to write out that great reply and I apologise for the lateness of mine if there’s ever anything I can do for you don’t hesitate to ask

[Beevee in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

There is one thing you can do for me.🤔

Follow the advice until it is ingrained in you. Second nature. Practice makes perfect!

DO NOT keep searching for recovery by trying to make yourself think or feel differently. Recovery will come to you.

You WILL get there. I never thought I'd recover (anxious thoughts trying to throw spanners in the works) but it just crept up on me. It was a seamless transition.

No matter how I felt or what my anxious thoughts were rabbiting on about (all doom and gloom) i just learned to accept it all. It's about being ok about not feeling ok and moving forward, willingly.

Best wishes

Beevee

[Hidden]

Carry that antibacterial gel they come in scents and small tubes now. You know getting exposed to germs is good for us too. Your mother wiped your butt and touched door handles you prob ate dirt and out all kinds of stuff in your mouth as a child. You’re still here lol!! The media makes us crazy germaphobes stop listening to all the scary don’t do this be aware stuff .. seriously Howard Hughes became so sick from fear. We all get sick from chronic anxiety. So if you catch a cold ... it isn’t from the toilet lol.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Hidden]

That’s a great idea and a great point thank you for your reply it was very helpful and I’ll definitely do that in the future if I can ever help you with anything don’t hesitate to message

[Hidden in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

I have extreme anxiety and issues. I totally get it. Mine manifest differently I’m trying to stay away from doctors as they caused me so much anxiety from mistakes. Work on the fear what’s really the issue write it down them all down I doubt it’s actually the toilet handle lol. Keep busy try not choose suffering it’s the hardest thing to learn fir some of us gone through so much s$&@! Lol

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Hidden]

I’m so sorry you had to go through that but you’re absolutely right and that’s a great perspective if ever need anything just message me

[Hidden in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

Thank you. I have it much worse than you too long. Losing my hair it’s brutal bad because the crap hasn’t stopped in 3 years no peace. Mistakes by docs add been 10 fold past 7 months. I’ll lose my hair it’s gotten to that point & it was coming back 7 months ago now omg and I’m in menopause so it doesn’t come back like it did. Just trying to relax and hoping meds for tummy help and I can walk use my body again. My tv died & computer hello $1000 at least and I have zero savings left. I chose to try to let it go. So I’m dealing with it pretending it’s ok because I’m full as it is. Keeping to myself sat in nature will prob do that again on Thursday I’m angry I was hot great hair nice figure for my age now I look awful. I have to accept it. It’s hard. Try to avoid dealing with doctors as they really messed up from bad to colossal have to forgive I’m not good at that towards them. I won’t forgive.

[Hidden]

So I have a horror story for you.

Me and my family move to a new area and we decide to explore some of he local haunts, so me and my wife take our small 3 year old child to a restaurant that specializes in wings, turns out it's more a bar then a restaurant but he's sold on eating and we dont want a cranky kid so we stick it out. Half way into the meal he has to go potty so I take him to the bathroom which is disaster, like I dont know how to explain it, pee on the floor, dirty seat, holy crap bad. I hold him up to pee in the toilet and set him down for maybe a second to get the weird stall door open and I turn to look and hes kneeling on the pee floor licking the porcelain up to the rim. Hes six now with no illnesses and trucking along. If he can do that I'm certain you'll be fine.

We do however carry hand sanitizer and wipes with us now for the other small one which I'd highly recommend since we use them too.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Hidden]

Oh wow you weren’t kidding but that has certainly helped give me some perspective thank you very much for reply and I hope he does keep trucking along all the best from me and if you ever need anything don’t hesitate to message

[Oshgosh]

Up anti bacterial hand rub and carry it with you

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Oshgosh]

Thank you for your reply I certainly will do that in the future if there’s anything I can do for you don’t be afraid to ask

[Artistbrew]

You may have a built up immunity though or possibly the restroom is kept up well.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Artistbrew]

Thank you for your it wasn’t actually that bad just my health anxiety thank you for taking the time to reply if you ever need anything don’t be afraid to message

[weegmack]

Oh bless you - I know exactly how this feels. I have health anxiety (among other things) and I really, really struggle with public restrooms. In fact, I’m going to a shopping mall today and I’m already worrying about picking up bugs! I totally understand how you feel. However, I do think you’d know by now if you’d picked up a stomach bug or something like that.

I always carry antibacterial hand wipes and antibacterial hand gel. And when you wash your hands in a restroom, make sure you rinse and rinse.

I hope the job interview went well - good luck! ♥️

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to weegmack]

Thank you for this message it really helped me feel less alone I’m going to therapy for threes issues which will hopefully help me I wish you all the best in overcoming this and if you ever need anything just message

[weegmack in reply to Meyer_Gdmnx]

You’re welcome ❤️. It’s such an exhausting thing to live with, isn’t it? I’m glad you’re getting some help - I’m seeing a psychologist just now for this also! Xx

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to weegmack]

Absolutely and good luck with psychologist I hope it works for you

[Funkyfaerie]

I use a piece of tissue to flush the toilet, and another to open the door, put it in the bin, then I'll wash my hands. So many people don't wash their hands!

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Funkyfaerie]

Thank you for your reply! Yes I’ll try to do that it’s definitely a good idea and yeah I know right? It’s unbelievable

[Icare4u]

Wow! There are 18x more germs on your cell phone than a toilet seat. I have cleaned public restrooms and residential homes... I never wore gloves.... And I never got sick. You need to not worry about such things to the point of fear. It's ok to give it a quick thought that it is dirty and you should wash your hands (and not for 30 min) and go on with your day. The sooner you start dropping the thought for another instead of dwelling on it, the sooner your thought process will change. Is your thoughts evoking your fear. You are healthy and fine!

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Icare4u]

Thank you I care for you that was extremely helpful and actually an interesting fact that I never new you’ve helped me a bunch. If there’s ever anything I can do for you just give me a quick message I’m more than happy help

[Lavelock67]

Your immune system NEEDS things to fight otherwise it can turn on itself and start food intolerance, lupus, and other auto-immune disorders. The problem with anxiety is irrational fear. You just need to stop worrying and adopt a "who cares" attitude for the small stuff and focus on the things that make you happy in life which is usually family friends and animals, being compassionate, being creative, organizing / grooming instinct things, and helping others which includes rethinking your work to focus on noticing your productivity regardless of what it is.

[Meyer_Gdmnx in reply to Lavelock67]

You’re absolutely right thank you for your taking the time to write out that wonderful reply it really has helped me like everyone else who’s replied to this it means a lot to me to see how much you care! That really has helped me gain a great new perspective and attitude obviously it won’t happen straight away but you’re right about re directing my focus! I’ll certainly try my best thanks a lot for your reply and if there’s ever anything I can do for you don’t hesitate to message me I wish you all the luck in the world

[Chancery]

Even if you came in contact with a still living bug (very unlikely as they die quickly outside the host) you would have to put your hands in your mouth, for example by eating, to be infected. You have to transfer the bug into your gut. Just having it on your hands is not enough. That's why you should always wash your hands before eating. So if your hands went nowhere near your mouth in your 30 minute window then you are absolutely safe!