MainerMikeBrown
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- Joined
- Oct 4, 2019
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I remember when I was a patient in a psychiatric ward back in the day, I was in my room reading a book just to kill some time.
Then, I was introduced to my new roommate. We said "Hi, nice to meet you" to each other. Then I went to shake hands with him.
He told me that he didn't feel comfortable shaking anyone's hand, as he had issues with obsessive compulsive disorder.
We became friendly with each other. I liked him and I think he liked me too.
However, I felt a little bit bad about trying to shake hands with him.
The thing with those with OCD who are fearful of germs is that, if they shake your hand, they can get real nervous about the germs. But if they tell you that they can't shake your hand, then you'll suspect that they have OCD issues. And lots of those with OCD try to hide their disorder from others. Many of them don't want anyone to know they have OCD. So if you try to shake their hand, it can be real stressful for them for both of those reasons.
That's why if you're in a psychiatric ward or a mental hospital and you meet a patient there for the first time, say hi and that it's nice to meet you to the person. But don't try to shake his or her hand unless the individual goes to shake your hand first. That way, if the person happens to have a phobia of germs, meeting him/her for the first time won't be awkward and stressful for him or her.
Then, I was introduced to my new roommate. We said "Hi, nice to meet you" to each other. Then I went to shake hands with him.
He told me that he didn't feel comfortable shaking anyone's hand, as he had issues with obsessive compulsive disorder.
We became friendly with each other. I liked him and I think he liked me too.
However, I felt a little bit bad about trying to shake hands with him.
The thing with those with OCD who are fearful of germs is that, if they shake your hand, they can get real nervous about the germs. But if they tell you that they can't shake your hand, then you'll suspect that they have OCD issues. And lots of those with OCD try to hide their disorder from others. Many of them don't want anyone to know they have OCD. So if you try to shake their hand, it can be real stressful for them for both of those reasons.
That's why if you're in a psychiatric ward or a mental hospital and you meet a patient there for the first time, say hi and that it's nice to meet you to the person. But don't try to shake his or her hand unless the individual goes to shake your hand first. That way, if the person happens to have a phobia of germs, meeting him/her for the first time won't be awkward and stressful for him or her.