Do I have a germ phobia??

I have a germ phobia to some extent. Money probably is the most dirtiest thing we can touch. Especially small coins. They could have been lying on a dirty pavement for days or longer and someone could come along and pick it up, put it in their pocket, thus making any money that came in contact with dirty. Its good to be vigilant about hand washing when handling money. I'd definately wash my hands as soon as I got home from work and before I ate my lunch if I were you. There's no reason to be paranoid.

I use to be really bad with germs. Took me a long time to get over it. I would not touch doorknobs or anything that other people touched with my barehands. I would use a paper towel or something, and I wouldn't shake anyone's hand. Some people have some nasty looking hands. Like do you whipe your butt with that?

I think what you are doing is just right,you only avoid diseases to get with your health and your friends and families health. You may also ask some of your co-tellers are they also doing the same thing. If yes, it is just normal.

I don't blame you at all. You are smart to wash your hands so often when handling money. If I were a bank teller, I would keep Germ-X or some other waterless germ killer by my work area to use throughout the day. I think that if you step back and notice, who has more colds in your workplace--you are your co-workers who do not wash their hands often?

You are doing the right thing. The money is one of the dirtiest things in the world since it exchanges hands many times. I have a friend who quit her job as a bank teller after getting sick from counting all those money which she doesn't own.

It could be. I've seen people who where called a germephobic with a lesser problem but, maybe you just like things to be clean. I often feel the same way about things like eating from untensils at restraunts.

Hi hillgirl311 No... I don't think you have germ phobia. I think you just want to be clean and I can understand that. I mean, money really is one of the dirtiest things that you can touch. You can also get a lot of diseases from holding them and I have to say, it's good that you're responsible enough to stay clean especially when holding a baby. If you were OCD, you'd be too scared to hold anything. Period.

i think OCD people will be much worse. or be more ritualistic and more clean than you actually are. cause what i have read and understand about OCD people that they still like to clean their hands though they just washed their hands and have not dirtied their hands yet. and so i think that you are just trying to be clean and avoid transferring bacteria from one place to another. it is just still normal for me. cause i think without proper handwashing we will transfer germs to kids or babies and that will be terrible.

I do admire you for washing your hands very often while at work and most especially before touching a baby and holding someone or something. I admire you because you are very cautious and you are really aware that money is one of the dirtiest thing we hold everyday. I like people who are very clean, it is not being too vain or particular but for me it is a prevention. I myself wash my hands every time I hold something dirty like the dishes, the kitchen, the floor and anything else in the house because I just want to be safe for my baby. I am not only doing this for him but of course for myself too. I do not want to hold hands with a person who did not wash hands but of course it is very hard to tell that. We do not even have signs on whether or not they washed their hands. So the best way to keep ourselves clean and safe is of course we should just be the one washing our hands. I wish all bank tellers like you and all other people (especially the public transportation drivers) wash their hands regularly and as often as possible. We should always bear in mind that cleanliness will keep us healthy and better people.

I really don't think you have a "germ phobia"...I also think that money is the dirtiest thing that we will ever touch and i would wash my hands too if i had to touch it all day long.I'm a care giver and i touch sick peoples,i help them toiletting and i wash my hands all the time.I do also make sure my hands have been wash before i come home and touch my kids...That doesn't make me OCD...It's call clean and respect for those around us,i just don't want to make my family and friends sick,just like you don't want to spread germ to your co-workers grandkids.It's also been drill in my head that i HAVE to wash my hands after every patients.

you are just being careful with yourself, that is not bad, we have our own immune system which will block the negative effects of the environment. germs are everywhere, I just imagined this, when you are washing your hands, you are opening the lavatory with a dirty hand and germs will be there, and after washing with soap, you will ofcourse close it, notice that you opened it with dirty hand and you close it with clean hands which will get the germs that you left in opening it. No one is isolated completely with germs, the best way to counter it is to have a great immune system.