What is clean fanatic?Is it a personality disorder?
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In Defense of Clean Fanatics Everywhere
I am a fanatic about cleanliness, and it is not, in any way, a personality disorder. There are, of course, people who have Obsessive Compuslive Disorder (OCD), which is a disorder that affects their ability to live their life normally; but being a fanatic about cleanliness is not, in itself, a disorder.
People who have more relaxed standards for cleanliness often view the clean fanatic as someone who has a disorder, but that is usually because the more relaxed person is either less aware of contamination, or simply isn't bothered by dirt. Since people often use themselves as the measure of how clean everyone should be, they judge the clean fanatic as "compuslive" and "not normal".
Another problem for the less clean-conscious is they often don't realize that a person can be a clean fanatic while living life quite fully, happily, and effortlessly. Practicing good hygiene and housekeeping isn't a lot of extra work for clean fanatics. In fact, clean fanatics tend to be very organized people who simply prefer to keep things clean, rather than letting them get disgustingly dirty.
There are a number of things that contribute to my own attitude about clean:
1. I am very aware of germs and cross-contamination. If someone picks up a cat, I really don't want them putting their "cat hands" on my refrigerator door handle. I don't want pocketbooks that have been on a car floor being put on my clean tablecloth. My general rule is, "If it's been on the floor then it should never be put on anything other than floor again (unless, perhaps, it is something that can be thoroughly washed).
Handwashing in the Number 1 to prevent getting sick, and making some effort to keep from spreading the same dirt, particles, or contamination from one place to another is good sense.
2. I have particularly sensitive hands. If I touch something (like a pet's head or a surface that isn't super clean) I can actually feel it on my hands. It feels as if there is something on them, and washing them makes them feel clean again. Library books and DVD cases have that invisible film of dirt on them. If they are damp-wiped that film is gone, and I don't feel it if I touch them.
3. I won't pick up papers that have fallen on the floor with my bare hands because sometimes fingernails can scrape the floor. I can feel if small bits of dirt have gotten under my nails, and it's just easier to put a baggie over my hand, or pick things up with a paper towel, than to try to get tiny, tiny, bits of dirt cleaned out once they've gotten under my nails.
4. Another reason I am a clean fanatic is that mess creates too much "visual overload". A neat pile temporarily left somewhere doesn't bother me. Big, cluttery, messes of miscellanous stuff do. It makes me feel as if I can't think clearly and can't breathe. Piled up stuff collects dust, making the situation go beyond clutter and into dirty. Piled up stuff also makes cleaning difficult.
5. I keep dishes that can't be in closed cabinets in plastic wrap, and I rinse all dishes before using them. Dishes must be left out for a little while to fully dry (so bacteria won't grow when they're stacked). Because of that, invisible amounts of dust that floats through any air can land on them. Also, one never knows if a spider or ant has walked over the dishes at any point. Rinsing dishes lets me know that there is no dust and not even a small amount of "ant-tracking" contamination on them.
6. Having a clean home makes it warmer and more alive to me. I know there are people who think a dirty, "lived in", home is "friendlier". I find less than sparkling depressing. "Lived in" can be another word for disorganized, cluttery, or even dirty. Some people are fine with a certain amount of clutter, but - believe me - a family can happily and freely live in an inviting, sparkling clean, neat, home. It's all a matter of being organized, having a cleaning system, and getting on top of small things before they turn into big messes.
It's nice to drink from sparkling clean glasses or use sparkling flatware. Sinks that sparkle are just nicer to use (not to mention more germ-free). A stack of folder, straight-from-the-dryer towels is just nicer than a bag load of unfolded ones.
The right degree of organization and efficiency mean that some people can keep things super clean almost effortlessly.
7. When it comes to clothing, pillow covers, and blankets (etc), if I'm going to put my face on it I want to know it has been nowhere but the washer, dryer, and a clean drawer. People can get skin infections from bacteria on things. Besides, it's just nicer to put your face on a super-clean pillow than on an "iffy" one.
8. I don't ask people to remove shoes when they come into the house (because I, personally, won't walk on floors, no matter how clean they appear; my feet feel that same kind of thing that my hands do). I do, however, think it is reasonable to expect people to keep their shoes (and socks and bare feet that have been on the floor) off furniture.
9. I use disinfectant and/or alcohol on things like doorknobs and phones often. If things like salt shakers aren't squeaky clean I need them to feel that way. The computer mouse just gets a feel to it after it has been used for a while (even by super clean hands).
Every year people in hospitals get serious infections and often die because healthcare workers don't wash their hands well, or else they cross contaminate. One hospital tried putting in a real effort to make people aware of contamination, and the rate of infection dropped way, way, down. When one person in my household gets sick, more often than not nobody else gets it.
There is no personality disorder when it comes to being aware of preventing contamination. There is also no personality disorder involved when a person happens to have sensitive skin that does feel dirt. Maybe other people feel it and ignore. Maybe they have callouses and don't feel. When you are someone who actually feels the presence of even small amounts of dirt on your hands there's no disorder in needing to wash your hands right away.
With regard to living in a way that keeps the house clean and neat, that's like learning to ride a bike. When you first learn to ride a two-wheeler you're always thinking about balancing and swirving the handle bars. Once you learn you're no longer thinking about it when you ride. You think about other things, talk, and generally enjoy yourself. Clean is the same way. Once you're in the habit of doing things a certain way nobody has to give up living in order to have things clean.
There is no disorder involved in the belief that a sparkling clean and neat home is warm and inviting. Decorating magazines don't use "lived in" homes to show how warm and inviting a house can be. Real Estate agents don't advise people who are selling their home to make it "lived in" so it will look more appealing. They advise making sure it is clean, adding some flowers, and adding a nice scent.
There's no disorder in liking the way faucet handles feel when they're super clean.
Even animals (cats, for example) have their own version of clean. They clean themselves all through the day. They head for the cleanest thing to sleep on. They bury the dirt in their litter box, and they won't use a litterbox that isn't clean.
One psychological element for me is that I'm someone who enjoys a clean, clear, head. People often prefer an environment that is an expression of who they are and/or that feels as if it matches who they are. If I'm not clean and don't have clean around me, I feel as if I'm in someone else's world. It conflicts with what I am on the inside.
Contrary to what so many people think (and that includes those less clean people who eye my clean-conscious ways with disapproval), I simply believe that there are good reasons for being clean. They can be health reasons, aesthetic reasons, or even just preferences. Wanting a clean, warm, welcoming, home is (at least for some people) a sign of being very caring, loving, and sociable.
The world is full of dirty. If I can at least have the luxury and indulgence of my own little world being sparkling clean and contamination-reduced, that gives me the strength to go out into that world (and use my forearm to open doors used by the public).
I'm an adult. I'm a mature woman. I'm a mother. I have no trouble having clean and order in my life. I'm a person with a sense of contamination prevention, aesthetics, and organization. I'm Mary - not Rhoda. I'm Shirley - not Laverne. I'm Monica - not Phoebe. I will even admit to being Felix - not Oscar. Snow White kept things clean. Cinderella was always cleaning. Belle even cleaned up the Beast's dirty, dusty, castle (and the the teapot and cups thought it was the greatest thing).
Clean is a nice thing to be - not a personality disorder to have.
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Author's Note: A crude, vulgar, comment was left at this hub by someone who apparently disagrees with the idea that being neat, clean, hygienic, and organized (while still being perfectly OCD-free and perfectly able to enjoy life) is a good thing to be. Disagrement and disagreement from anyone (who can't believe that being well organized and capable of keeping their home in order just may be a good thing) is welcome. Even name-calling comments are welcome, if someone is so inclined.
Vulgar, crude, comments (usually a sign of an immature, dirty-minded, person, and always a sign of someone who has nothing solid to add to any debate) aren't going to be posted here. They're a violation of HubPages policy; and they're the kind of thing the mature, wholesome-minded, among us are going to tolerate.
"Dirty" (whether in one's house, language, or mind) isn't something I have in my life, and it isn't what will be on my HugPage. I find the occasional "hate comment" or name-calling humorous. I find disagreement an intellectual challenge and a little bit fun. Crudeness, however, is for some other site and someone else's pages.
To lui (whose second comment - like the first - I have chosen not to post on this hub): I ordinarily allow just about all comments on any of my blogs - all but those that are crude or otherwise cross a line that would inappropriate content on my pages. As I mentioned above, writers of Hub are held to HubPages standards of content. Besides not wanting my account closed for inappropriate content, there are just some comments that are a little too tasteless (or bordering on it) that I don't want posted.
I post just about all comments that show up on any of my pages. As I said I before I welcome differing opinions. They make any hub more interesting. It doesn't happen often, but when I had a reader name-call I'll post that as well (as long as it's clean, and - in the case of your original comment - saying you think I'm an "idiot" is fine with me. "Idiot" isn't crude. So with regard to your second comment that people "should be able to post anything on this wall", the fact is most of the time they are. It is a very rare comment that I delete.
I don't know what it is about this particular hub that seems to have bothered you so much; because if you went to most homes in any decent US neighborhood; with a mature, responsible, organized, parent in charge; you'd more often than not find a home that's kept nicely. As I said in my hub, it isn't difficult for people to have well-organized, clean, homes with flowers on the table, sparkling dishes, shiny floors, neat drawers, and no trash or clutter anywhere. Young people (say, college aged kids) who have no children have other things to worry about, haven't seen the disaster that can occur when messes get out of hand, or have no need to keep a nice home for children often tend to let things get out of control. Even among them, though, there are neat freaks who see view their messy roommates as irresponsible and even disgusting. I answered a Hub request once from a student who didn't know what to do about her roommate who "wouldn't clean". It's on here somewhere.
Getting back to your opinion that anything anyone writes as a comment should be posted: Out of curiosity I went to your profile to see what types of articles you write. I saw that you joined HubPages ten months ago and haven't yet written any articles at all. If you had your own articles written on here you may have a little more of a reading on why some people have to (once-in-a-great while) delete a comment.
I'm a freelance writer, and I often refer potential employers to any number of my online articles or profiles as a way of providing "back-up" writing samples. (Sometimes the samples I send aren't really good examples of the kind of writing the person wants, but something I've written online may be.) I have children and a bunch of other family members and friends who sometimes view my sites as well. For good or ill, my online material is a reflection of me. For good or ill, I've put a lot of effort into producing over 1500 online articles (not on this site, but on several).
I don't want potential employers or family members (particularly my kids) running into crude stuff if/when they're browsing my material. Also, after writing just my 150 or so hubs, alone, I believe I have put in enough effort to have earned the right to choose whether I want my pages to remain reasonably tasteful (particularly since I let just about all comments get posted).
When a person writes online he runs the risk of having people not like, or agree with, what he has to say. That's part of the deal when a person puts his writing out there. Whether that material is posted on someone's own,private, website or under the terms and standards of a site like HubPages; the material is posted a private site, and private site's and individual are not obligated to post material that's the writer or site-administrators find off-color or otherwise cross a line. Anyone who writes online pretty much expects to be called the occasional name and can't spin his wheels over what strangers think of him.
If you had wanted to take issue with anything I said in the hub (without adding words involving body parts) I would have been more than happy to post your comment. Depending on the point you had to make, I may have further commented or debated or else just posted the opposing opinion without more comment. If you had wanted to call me an "idiot" and left out the reference to a body part I wouldn't have deleted it.
For now, I've taken more time to address the matter of your comments than a lot of people would have bothered with. Think what you like. Maybe you'd like to consider writing a hub about why a pleasant, organized, clean home is such an undesirable thing. (Seriously, that's not a saracastic remark at all. Why not fill out your profile, write a few hubs that express your views of things.)
Dear Lisa
Please tell me what are you doing when your husband or your kids dont keep clean. For example if there is a paper on the floor, your husband pick it up and than unintentionally take a clean cup from the kitchen with the same unwashed hands?
Thank you in advance. Because you are positive and I like it your answer will help me a lot.
The guy I married has always been pretty much as "bad" as I am when it comes to germs; but even so, I know the kind of thing you mean. Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I pretty much scoot around in back of people - uncontaminating whatever they contaminate. :) I don't let them see me doing that, though, because it would probably be aggravating to them, and I do have my pride. :) We've always had a kind of half they-cooperate/to-some-degree-I-"perfect"-things kind of set-up. It's a compromise type of thing.
I guess I know that (even though I believe I'm the more cautious one) I'm "a little too much" according to a lot of people's standards, so I figure it may be too much to expect them to go with my standards at all times. (Still, I can't live with contaminated stuff - so I'd just rather do the stealth thing.)
Lisa:
I got thru about four paragraphs. YOU NEED PROFESSIONAL HELP! See if there is a local health department to provides free psycho consultations. I'm sure they'd wear a bubble for your first consultation to make you feel uncontaminated by their presence. Wow! When do you have time for sex? And do you make him finish off in a plastic bag?
Although I had to delete one because it was way too vulgar, it's funny to me that the people who think being a "neat freak" is a mental problem always throw in some remark about sex. Gee, when I run into someone that I think has mental problems it never occurs to me to make crude remarks about sex. I somehow don't think I'm the one with the "issues".
Since your issues must related to the first four paragraphs, do you know that women have more tactile senstivity than men do? Also, do you know that some girls/women have even more than other do?
http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/brainsx.html
They way I see your comment is this: If you found what I wrote really off-the-wall and said something like, "I completely disagree with this whole hub and think that this degree of neatness if not healthy," I'd just assume you're the messy type who thinks super neat people are compulsive. (I'm the neat type who thinks at least some, not all, messy people are the ones who have the disorders.) The fact is that people are different, and just because someone is not like we are it doesn't necessarily mean that either party has a mental disorder.
Between women's having more tactile senstivity in their hands and often being responsible mothers who want to make a nice, healthy, nurturing, home for their family and guests, the fact is a lot of women are very much like I am. Yes, I've worked in an Infectious Disease department, and I may be a little more aware of things like cross-contamination in the kitchen; but I know plenty of women who are very much like I am.
Instead of a reasonable comment that simply criticized/questioned the material I wrote, however, you apparently felt the need to send an aggressive, name-calling, crude, comment. That shows me (and others here) that something I said pushed your buttons to the point where you needed to "attack".
I'm going to assume that either you have an ego that needs to think that everyone needs to be like you in order to be normal, or an ego that believes you are superior to everyone else and if it feels threatened by someone who may have made you feel as if you aren't quite as on top of your life as you like to think you are.
There is nothing I said in the whole first three paragraphs that says anything "worse" than that some people don't find being neat and clean any particular challenge while others find it more of a challenge. Also, I simply said some people care more about a neat home and hygiene more than others do. That's a fact. There is a spectrum for what is considered "normal" . You're at the low or middle end; and I'm at the higher end. What the heck is the big deal?
In the fouth paragraph I commented on aiming to keep contamination out of the kitchen where food is prepared. (Look up a site that gives food handling practices). I also commented on washing hands after picking up a cat. (Look up the kinds of parasites and germs pets can have; and consider, too, that they lay around on the floor where shoes from outdoors have walked.)
The funny thing about crude and aggressive comments is that the person who writes them never tries to debate, point by point, anything that has been said. They name-call, call people "mentally ill", and make crude, sex, remarks.
Last week I had the same old crude kind of comment and insults on a hub that was about a foolish phone service!! Gee, I had no idea I am so controversial!
Other than my whimsical references to tv characters and cartoon characters at the end of the hub (and which could seem strange to the person who didn't get my attempt at being whimsical), there's nothing I said in the hub that any knowledgeable, educated, person would find as "psycho". If it makes you feel better to believe otherwise, feel free....
The fact that you needed to describe at such great length, in the most minute detail, why you like to keep a clean house, already tells me that there's some disorder involved in your cleanliness needs.
Hard as it may for anyone to believe, there are people who can have very high standards about cleanliness and order while remaining completely happy, relaxed, normal people who happen to find keeping things clean and neat effortless.
I described it "at length" as a way to point out the degree of "high standard", while also trying to point out that such a high standard is easy and effortless for some "clean fanatics".
This hub was written in response to request that asked whether being a "clean fanatic" is a mental disorder. Based on the number of mature, capable, well informed, people I know who have similar standards to mine; it is clear to me that I'm generally not all that unique.
The fact is there is a "slob/neat-nik" spectrum with abnormal extremes at both ends. On that spectrum there is a range that would be considered "normal", and some people fall closer to "slob" end than the "OCD/neat-nik" end, while still remaining happily well adjusted, normal, people.
No psychiatrist in the world who knew me and how I live would call my standard of cleanliness/neatness anything but "at the higher end of the normal spectrum". People who are "super" neat and clean usually just develop a good system of cleaning up as they go along, getting work done efficiently, and being well organized to make the rest of it easy. Being aware of good food handling practices and pet contamination, and throwing a baggy over one's hands before doing some things does not OCD make.
When I saw the request for this hub I just thought, as a "clean freak", and as a writer, I was in a good position to defend all those other perfectly normal but super-clean/neat people who have lived their lives being viewed by people (who either can't manage to keep life very orderly and clean, simply don't care about it, don't realize how easy it can be, or may even have something like ADD) as "having a mental disorder".
When I see people who are messy (but still generally on the "normal" part of that spectrum), I just figure they don't care for some reason; or else they just aren't as organized as those of us who are good at making/keeping life "super neat and clean". I don't think, "mental disorder". Those of us at the higher end of that particular spectrum, however, are often viewed by people at the lower end as having a "mental disorder"; apparently because a lot of people use themselves as the standard of "what's normal" and can't imagine that anyone with a higher standard could possibly be normal as well.
People are different. They have different sets of skills and abilities and priorities. Some know a little more than others about things like contamination. (I cannot tell anyone how often I've seen perfectly attractive and normal looking women walk out of the rest room stall and head straight for the door without washing their hands.) There are people who know about some of the contamination pets can bring and who won't even have a pet. Then, too, there are people who don't mind if the cat goes from the litterbox to their kitchen counters. Taking a few precautions and setting up a few rules about where pets can be is a way of doing the "normal" thing of having pets while also being careful about things like toxoplasmosis "germs".
The whole point of this hub (again, that I wrote in response to someone else's implying that being a neat-nik/clean-freak means having a mental disorder) was to point out that perfectly happy, normal, people (and there are many, many, of them in this world) can have a very high standard of "clean" and no mental disorder whatsoever. That's why I described my own standard of "clean".
If I have any "issues" with the whole clean-versus-messy thing it's a certain amount of anger at having people establish the "standard of normal" at themselves, and think anyone over or under their personal standard "has a problem". I've had people jump to the conclusion that I don't use my stove because it's always so clean. Worse, I've had people assume I didn't let my little kids play freely when they were little, when, in fact, they would strew their stuff all over the house; and the reason the house was clean and neat was that I'd go around cleaning up at night when my toddlers were asleep!
When you are someone who has good organization skills and manages to (often) effortlessly to keep things neat and clean; or when you're someone who simply makes yourself do tasks that, maybe, you don't really feeling like doing because you're tired; it is aggravating to have anyone assume you "don't use your stove" or "don't let the kids play".
If anyone does a little research on legitimate sites or at the library they will see that there is that "spectrum" of "neat/messy", on which people of all types fall well within the "normal" range. One other note: There are a lot of things in this life on which I'd fall at the "low end" of any abilities scale, but two things that are effortless for me are cleaning and coming up with a lot of written words pretty fast. The length of my hub (or comments) should be seen as anything other than the ability (and tendency) to whip up a lot of thoughts in a very brief time.
The lady doth protest too much.
Think what you like, Diane. As I said earlier, there are people who just cannot possibly believe that someone who can keep an orderly, clean, house relatively effortlessly exist. There will be no convincing them otherwise.
Lisa, you have a problem. If you saw the psychiatrist and showed him all the stuff you wrote on this page, you would definately fall under obsessive compulsive disorder.
Not if the same psychiatrist could follow me around throughout my days/life and put what I've said within the context of that. :)
There is a lot of misunderstanding about OCD. This link offers a solid description:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-co
Not that I need to defend myself (because people will always believe what they will; but speaking for so many other people who may happen to be at the "high end of the neat/clean/organized spectrum" (but still within the range of happy, normal, unplagued, person): I am not plagued by unwanted thoughts, and I certainly don't spend my life thinking about germs. If I do something like - what - pat a dog or pick something up from the floor without those baggies I prefer, I wash my hands - end of story. People with OCD keep doing the same thing over and over again. They can't help but do things like keep washing hands, keep checking that they didn't leave an iron on, keep counting, etc. etc. They live with anxiety (which I don't - or at least when I do get anxiety it's over normal worries in life).
Most of what I've written is not something that a skilled psychiatrist would view as "off". Yes, there are a few things that would probably cause that psychiatrist to further question me on. The not-picking up stuff (I should have specified paper and tiny objects, not things like bookbags) from the floor are extreme. I added those extreme things, though, to show exactly what a "clean freak" I am. As I mentioned earlier, the "Cinderella/Snow White/Shirley" references were added in humor - not seriousness.
I think one problem with this hub is that, because its purpose was to discuss being a "clean freak", it talks about only those aspects of my life/personality that are related to being at the "high end of the clean/neat spectrum" without balancing things off my adding "all the rest of my life". The hub, though, was not supposed to be all about the rest of my life - only those minor things that would qualify me as a "clean freak".
For me (and for all those others for whom "high-end cleanliness/neatness" comes effortlessly and as the result of something other than "unwanted thoughts" and "anxiety") being "high-end neat and organized" comes easily and certainly doesn't detract from the rest of my life.
"Living neat and clean" is a skill like anything else (basketball, typing, singing, woodworking, etc. etc.). With any skill there will always be people who have more proficiency than others. With any skill there will always be people who care about that skill and people who don't. In general, though, the only skill (and it is a basic, living, skill) that gets "attacked" as "mentally ill" seems to be that skill that involves an effortless ability to "live neat, organized and clean".
One of my sons is adopted, so I have gone through rigorous visits with having social workers visit and observe the way I live. After the adoption was finalized we had the occasional psychologist show up for follow-up visits, again to observe how we lived and to evaluate my son. In other words, I've had my exposure to people capable of noticing any mental disorder and calling it to my attention.
Having raised three children and had a dog and/or cat pretty much since I was child, I've graciously and happily dealt with being projectile vomited on, cleaning up after pets and dealing with their hair, having contents of diapers slip out the legs of diapers, discovering dead mice on my back porch, and any number of other of life's disgusting things. I've also wallowed in the urine-soaked sheets that occurred all through the day when my mother was bedridden and dying, and I was her primary caretaker.
With all those "less pleasant" things of life, however, I have enjoyed a whole, normal, and even enviable existence as a perfectly capable individual free of unwanted thoughts or actions over which I have little control.
I would welcome comments that were along the lines of, "Why on Earth do you think picking up a cat calls for handwashing?" because I could then explain the health reasons for that kind of thing. I'd also welcome comments like, "Can't you pick up a dime from the floor without having your long fingernails touch the floor?" Again, that would give me the chance to explain the reasoning behind choosing to cover my hand with a baggie (when I do - it isn't like I walk around with baggies on my hands all the time; and it isn't like I won't touch a shopping cart handle).
I don't even find it particularly offensive that someone politely suggests I could possibly have signs of OCD, because I know someone may mean well; and I know that I'm at the "high end of the spectrum". Even I have often joked that I "border on OCD" because I know a few things (not most) that I do can seem extreme.
Still, without knowing me and without seeing those relatively minor steps toward cleanliness within the context of my life and personality; nobody can or should jump to the conclusion that I "must have" OCD.
Again, I haven't written this so it will be "about me". I've written for that "silent minority" who are at the high end of the spectrum (but still within normal range), who have lived their lives being seen as "too much" (and "having a mental disorder") by people like me, who think that the more careless are "not enough".
I don't look at the "more casual" people and think they are incompetent or have a mental disorder. I just figure they have different personalities and priorities than I have, or else they just have too much trouble effortlessly "living neat and clean". I may not understand them and may not be able to imagine how they could live as they do - but I don't think they have a mental disorder. Why is that people who would fall "lower" on the scale (but still within normal range) presume to believe that the more skilled, more efficient, or more informed among us MUST have OCD?
What determines whether a person has crossed over from "normal" and into "OCD" is related to the degree to which that person's behavior affects his being able to live a normal life, act like a normal person, and generally be of good mental health. Also, what determines whether some actions would be considered "OCD" or not also involves whether or not that person is "plagued by unwanted thoughts" or repeats behavior over and over again. There is more to the diagnosis of OCD than whether someone prefers to keep her hands clean by picking up dimes with baggies on her hands or by giving her hands a good washing after touching a pet.
I wrote this hub because I am aware that those of us who are at "high end" of the "neat-freak-but-normal" bell curve have to deal with a lot of misunderstanding and even ignorance. I thought it was time that someone make a point of speaking up about this, and when I saw the request that asked if being a neat-freak is a "personality disorder" I was particularly "inspired" to answer that.
Any capable psychiatrist with a good understanding of OCD would know the "extra pickiness" doesn't always constitute OCD. The comments on this hub, though, do point out the attitudes that that "silent minority" of "neat but normal" people must deal with. :)
Despite all you have written, you seem pretty convinced with yourself but have you actually been to a psychiatrist??
I mean, our species evolved to this day without people being clean-freaks, our bodies can take much more than you may think, thats not to say we must live in filth, but by being too clean, your kids ammunity will fall and they will get ill easier when they re out of the house. Also, how is it that your life is not affected as you say, if you keep "following everyone around de-contaminating as they contaminate".. that sounds like someone with a problem. I mean ok, if someone spills something to wipe it up but pickig up dust particles that your eye scans for is a problem.
Taniaalbenti, thanks for commenting (and, unlike another comment or two on here, your comments come across as reasonable enough to me. (I don't actually pick up dust particles. I pick up whatever "little white things" show up on the rug. LOL. I don't really know what they are - lint? paper? LOL).
In answer to your question about a psychiatrist, no I haven't sought psychiatric help because I'm a happy and relaxed person (believe it or not). Actually, though, I have been evaluated/screened for overall mental health/adjustment because I'm an adoptive mother, and it was part of the screening. On the neat/messy "spectrum" people can be one extreme or the other, but between the two extremes there's a whole range of "levels" of "neat" and "clean" that fall within normal. While someone who is clinically insane isn't necessarily aware that he's ill (although even they often know something is wrong), most of us who are without mental illness or neurosis can pretty much see whether whatever we are or do is "beyond normal" or not. If I ask you if you've seen a psychiatrist for your agoraphobia you'll, of course, tell me you know you have no signs of it (I'm guessing, anyway). This is the same kind of thing. I've actually just written a big blost post elsewhere about the fact that I've noticed I spend too much time at the PC and need to cut down on my time at it, because it's getting to be a little more than is ideal.
You're right that children who haven't had a little exposure to some germs won't have the same immunity to some illnesses. A lot of first-born and only children spend their first year in school getting every virus that comes down the pike, while kids with siblings get sick less. At the same time, though, it isn't possible (or at least it's not the degree to which I clean) to sterilize a house to the point where a child isn't exposed to germs. My house is far from sterile. At the same time, years ago my little nephew 20 months old) died from illness caused by a very common bacteria that a whole lot of people carry in their nose and throat. When my own children were young the pediatrician said that how much of a "blast of exposure" someone gets to germs can make a difference between whether he gets really sick with something or only a little sick with it. I think most of the time even the biggest clean freaks don't have a sterile environment (heck, even hospitals don't have as sterile an environment as they should to be prevent MRSA illness and deaths); but, to me, it does seem worth taking steps to reduce the chances that someone will get a big "blast" of exposure to germs and get sick (or sicker than they had to get).
Sure, I think it's almost funny that if a "little white thing" shows up on the rug it really does irk me, but I live with two adults right now. There aren't all that many little white things that show up. :) If I lived with five young children it would be different (although I suppose I would vacuum more than I do in my present situation). :)
I wrote this Hub in response to a request that asked if being a "clean freak" is a personality disorder. The answer to that is that being a clean freak doesn't necessarily mean someone has a personality disorder, as long as they still fall within what would be considered "normal" on that "messy/clean" spectrum. I wouldn't so much describe my own attitude toward my own standards/preferences as "convinced with myself". Obviously, from comments on here I haven't convinced some people who don't know me or don't see how effortless it really is for me keep as neat and clean as I like; but I'm familiar enough with what the signs of "genuine" OCD are to be as sure that I don't have it as I am as sure that I have light brown hair (even if someone on here cannot see that for themselves).
This is a good discussion that people of all "levels of neatness or messiness" should have, though; because (and I'm honestly not being defensive here) think of how unfortunate it is that a person who likes being neat and clean and who finds it fairly effortless to be neat and clean can't write freely about it without having at least a few suggestions she see a psychiatrist. I'm not angry or offended that human nature is such that people can find it so hard to believe someone can be perfectly normal and happy and relaxed but just be a "clean freak" or a "neat freak". It's just kind of sad that, perhaps because someone simply is left-brained and likes order; or because a left-brained person can find it effortless to just "live neat", so many people would find it hard to believe that person just may be perfectly normal (creative? no - but normal, sure). :)
When I adopted my son I went through a years-long process of having social workers, psychologists, etc. visiting, interviewing, having us write one thing or another about ourselves/our life, and later observing me with my son (as well as evaluating him every few years following the adoption). I do have in my possession a psychiatrist's report that says - believe it or not - no signs of mental illness. I don't expect everyone else to be the same as I am. I can think of some of the messiest people I know, and I have to say I can't imagine what on Earth is going on with them; but I never think they need a psychiatrist. I just figure they're different from me. I figure they either have "lower standards" (their business) or else they may find it too challenging to stay neat and clean without a lot of work. It really is kind of sad, though, that the people at the "low end" of the neatness/cleanness spectrum can't imagine that those on the other end can still fall within normal. (Maybe I should start a support group for us, "poor", persecuted, neat freaks. LOL ) Again, thanks for contributing to the discussion in such a reasonable way.
JerseyGirl says:
2 years ago
Good hub with great info. Thanks for sharing.