This is my first time posting on a forum for this. I'm 25 and have had this phobia for as long as I can remember, it gradually got worse and worse. It probably reached it's worst point about five to six years ago - I was at a very panicky and anxious stage and it is also when i learned about hand sanitizers and how germs spread, etc. I seemed to get a bit better for a while after that, but i think i'm relapsing. I caught a --- last Winter which i think triggered it off again (though it truly never left).
And now winter is upon us and I am not coping well. I clam up at the mention of someone having the ---. i stop eating if someone in my house gets ill. I have also started to make sure i go round and wipe all the handles and everything with sanitizer after someone leaves, but it still feels as though it's not enough. my brother just came in and decided to tell me he's been unwell; i'm at my wits end. this stress is tearing me apart, making me ill, and making me depressed. i know i need help but i don't know what to do. I feel as though no one understands (my family try, but i feel it still makes most of them uncomfortable, and they don't always listen to me when i tell them to try and be careful of germs, and that just worries me more). I feel like a freak. i just don't want to live with this anymore.