Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT strips 4046-4050 (15 - 19 July 2019)
maneyan:
I'm a bit apprehensive about this as well: mental issues aren't cured with an ephipany. Still though; Jeph's usually delivered on these things in the end so I'm going to presume he's going to elaborate on it.
sitnspin:
I didn't interpret this as her "getting over" her mental illnesses, but as her developing an effecting coping mechanism. I have my own myriad mental health issues, and while I am fairly certain I will have them my entire life, I have learned strategies for managing them relatively effectively. That is all I am seeing here. The goal with any mental illness treatment is successful management of one's condition, not a cure.
GentlewomanOtter:
I am so massively uncomfortable with today's comic that I created an account to comment. That is just not how mental illness works. It isn't how OCD/anxiety work specifically. I deal with a lot of anxiety and maybe some OCD, and I can't just decide that being grossed out or upset by or worried about something isn't helpful and make the feelings go away. I know intellectually that it isn't helpful to worry about my new job to the point of making myself nauseous. It is the opposite of helpful. That doesn't make it stop. I know that soap isn't magic disinfectant, it's mostly a surfactant, and that I will not die if i use the occasional bathroom without soap. But I just. Can't. Not without hand sanitizer or something instead of soap. This is on meds that keep me from spiraling and reduce the intrusive thoughts.
I'm confused and disappointed because Jeph is normally Excellent about things like this. But Hanners' intense OCD seems to have magically gone away just because she realized it wasn't helpful.
Y:
The thing is the moment you get over your main uncomfortable thing, something else pops up instead, something you might haven't even found icky before.
--- Quote from: GentlewomanOtter on 17 Jul 2019, 08:02 ---I know that soap isn't magic disinfectant, it's mostly a surfactant, and that I will not die if i use the occasional bathroom without soap. But I just. Can't. Not without hand sanitizer or something instead of soap.
--- End quote ---
Why should you not wash after bathroom? I remember when I was younger it wasn't as bad, but then suddenly I started washing them every time and more, after my first gf found it icky. Now I wipe the seat of the toilet every time, even if that does nothing in terms of bacteria.
Gus_Smedstad:
Soap being a surfactant is actually a major benefit. Warning: I'm dumping a bit of google research here, but it's from the National Institute of Health, so it's presumably credible.
While there are antibacterial soaps - and I always purchase those - it turns out the major benefit of handwashing isn't killing germs, it's washing them off your hands and down the drain. You get a benefit from washing your hands in even in plain water, though soap is better.
15 seconds of washing with regular soap reduces E. Coli by to 10^-1.72 (1.9%) of the original count.
15 seconds of washing with antibacterial soap reduces it to 10^-2.90 (0.12%) of the original count.
30 seconds of washing with antibacterial soap reduced it to 10^-3.33 (0.046%) of the original count.
Bacteria CAN survive on a bar of soap, and multiply. When you wash your hands with bar soap, you're transferring some of the bacteria to the soap, and the next time you wash, you're transferring some back before you start washing, where presumably it then goes down the drain. Which is an argument for using liquid soap, though you can still obsess over what's living on the soap dispenser.
Those infra-red controlled, touchless liquid soap dispensers you see in public restrooms? They're actually a benefit.
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