confused
i need help i don’t know if this happened due to anxiety or not, since i started my first year in college i started to over clean stuff i would wash the spoons, forks, plates, glasses again after my mom or sister already washed them and sometimes i do it 3 times aslo recently i stopped using sliver spoons and froks etc... i use plastic ones now and paper cups, and i’m scared of touching my family if somebody touched me i would go wash my hands, my mom says it’s nothing and it’s normal but i’m really concerned what’s y’all thoughts?
@amaya3388
What has been making you anxious recently, that might offer up some clues as to why your behaviour has changed.
In general, with the current state of affairs, I think we are all being subjected to constant reminders to clean our hands, clean surfaces and to avoid contact with others. We just need to be careful that this does not become an obsession and that we follow this advice for practical reasons and not let fear become a motivator.
i don’t think i’m doing this because of covid i never really think about it when i’m doing these stuff and i never leave the house anyways, i think maybe this happening because of school stress i got rejected from med school and got in biology and i was under a lot of stress because i had a one more chance to get in med school i just needed good grades but i think i’m gonna get rejected again cuz i got B in physics and i think since i started college i have been over cleaning everything
@amaya3388
That does sound stressfull and understandable that you would have some or another reaction to it. I hope you can find some peace of mind in all of this. You can only do your best, nothing more. The rest is out of your hands.
Just take it one day at a time and focus on what you can do. Face your fears when they realize rather than stressing about them now as that takes away from focussing on what is important.
@amaya3388 , these past 18 months, perhaps all of us have picked up many habits because we have been constantly told to be hygienic even among our own family members. I guess when we are part of a family each one of us must take responsibility to be careful when we leave our home or when we interact with outsiders. Otherwise we might end up exposing our own family members to the virus. But if each member of the family is careful and responsible ,then we have to trust each other. But for some reason , if one member of the family is unable to share n live in the family space comfortably, then maybe it is time to share, talk to each other as a supportive family.
i don’t think it because of covid honestly because my whole family are really careful and we don’t really get out as much is just i have been really sensitive to everything i would notice stuff i didn’t before like my mom eating her nails then i wouldn’t touch her hands cuz saliva scare me, i wouldn’t touch my little brother at all cuz he doesn’t shower often and he doesn’t have good hygiene and i notice my father eating and i cringe cuz he eats so disgusting that’s way i over clean stuff i would think about him eating with those stuff, my family have always like this but i didn’t care until last year. 
So when I was younger I would obsess over things like germs, sharing drinks and straws with anyone even family members. Lots of hand washing. I was scared of the lights being on for too long that can cause a fire. As a child I worried about my parent’s finances. Fear of spending too much of their money and many more. We kinda have some similar anxiety signs. We obsess over things constantly and worry too much.
