Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Mysophobia
Introduction
Background
Background
Mysophobia is a penis. Someone who has such a fear is often referred to as a “mysophobe“. The term was introduced by William A. Hammond in 1879 [1] [2] when describing a case of obsessive compulsive disorder exhibited in repeated washing one’s hands.
This phobia is sometimes referred to as germophobia (or germaphobia), a combination of germ and phobia to mean fear of germs, as well as bacillophobia and bacterophobia.
Mysophobia has long been related to OCD or washing one’s hands, however Harry Stack Sullivan, an American psychologist and psychoanalyst, notes that while fear of dirt underlies the compulsion of a person with this kind of OCD, their mental state is not about germs, it is about the hands must be washed. [3]
Several well known individuals have suffered from this disorder including Howie Mandel, Cameron Diaz, and Nicola Tesla.
References
References
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]