This week’s episode of Wander Talks focused on the idea of distractions. Primarily, on the distractions that come with studying and germs. I sat down with my friend Marta Gorecka, the inspiration for one of my articles about germaphobia. We spent the entire day studying for multiple tests that we have coming up this week. While doing so, like any other student, we found ways to turn our attention to something irrelevant to the material we were trying to review. Gossip, social media, iPhone applications, and food were all big focus killers in our day of cramming. So with this, I decided to actually sit down and dive into how exactly we fall into these pits of unproductiveness.
 

 

Marta Gorecka

Our brief conversation turned discussion led right into Marta’s germaphobia, a big distraction in her life. I grilled Marta on questions that forced her to further explain why exactly she obsesses over the littlest things, and how much her touch of OCD has affected her life. Like I discussed in my article, germaphobia is not exactly something you can control. It isn’t similar to someone who is conscious of germs that can potentially get you sick (like me), it’s a compulsion that can trigger major anxiety if not acted upon. Marta went into detail about certain situations that cause her the most trouble: gyms, subways, dirty floors, and bathrooms. All of these settings may sound reasonable to anyone slightly mindful of where they set their belongings, but this was taken to a new level that I can relate to a little less.

Talking with someone who actually experiences the full effect of germaphobia/mysophobia really put the condition in perspective. It’s one thing to observe someone acting on their complusive behavior, but it is another to actually hear the reasoning behind it. Hearing Marta describe her point of view helped me understand where she was coming from, and made clear to me that she is fully aware that her fear of germs is more abnormal than normal.

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