Fear of touching loose metals like Jewelry

by Jake
(Alberta, Canada)

As long as I can remember I have never been able to handle touching, holding or wearing jewelry. I find my self looking at necklaces that people are wearing and thinking that it disgusts me. Although I acknowledge that obviously I'm the strange one as most people see it to be an item of value or I guess for them beauty?? But to me I do find it astounding that someone would want to wear it, I think it makes people look really bad (especially wearing a cross around your neck as a sign of faith..) I also hate reaching into pockets and wallets. Once I threw my wallet away after a friend asked me if he could put he necklace in it while we went swimming!

The best I could describe it would be that it makes me feel very dirty (worse than shoving my hand into a toilet or anything else I can think of). The idea of having jewelry or key chains (metals of that kind) in contact with my skin also makes me have these ridiculous kind of extremity spasms as if I shaking spiders off of me or something. Although holding something like a solid piece of metal (a hammer, chisel, screwdriver or cutlery) is no problem.

I also completely understand and share a similar phobia of money and coins, something I would say is probably much more common as the amount of germs on money is extensive (as would be on jewelry).

The worst part is that it affects how I might find someone attractive or be able to be intimate with. Having said that a former relationship of mine with a girl who wore sort of like a hemp/earth-fibre necklace was no problem, only gold, silver and those horrid chains that look like they belong on a dog or something.. (haha! there's my phobia).