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This article needs attention from an expert in Psychology. The specific problem is: There are no references except for the derivative of the word. WikiProject Psychology (or its Portal) may be able to help recruit an expert. (November 2010) |
Mysophobia (from Greek μύσος - musos, "uncleanness"[1] and φόβος - phobos, "fear";[2] also called germophobia/germaphobia, a combination of germ and phobia to mean "fear of germs", as well as bacillophobia, bacteriophobia, and spermophobia) is a pathological fear of contamination and germs. Someone who has such a fear is referred to as a mysophobe. The term was coined by Dr. William Alexander Hammond in 1879 when describing a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) exhibited in repeatedly washing one's hands. Mysophobia has long been related to the OCD of constantly 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, his or her mental state is not about germs; instead, this person feels the hands must be washed. Other names for abnormal persistent fear of dirt and filth include molysmophobia or molysomophobia, rhypophobia, and rupophobia.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ μύσος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ φόβος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
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