Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCausesComplicationsTreatmentCoping

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Symptoms

Causes

Complications

Treatment

Coping

The fear of smelling bad, also known as bromidrophobia, is a relatively common fear for many people. It can lead to an excessive concern with being clean and avoiding smells, and sometimes it can lead to severe symptoms of anxiety that interfere with a person’s ability to function normally in their daily life.

Bromidrophobia may be the result of today’s emphasis on cleanliness which has led us to believe that bodily scents are dirty or taboo. This mental health issue can lead to an unhealthy obsession with ensuring that our regular odors are removed or masked. People with a fear of smelling bad can also have a fear of others' body odors.

At a GlancePeople with bromidrophobia often spend excessive time cleaning themselves and avoid situations where there is a risk of smelling bad. This condition can create a lot of anxiety and interfere with a person’s ability to function normally in their life. Fortunately, there are effective treatments that can help people cope with this fear.

At a Glance

People with bromidrophobia often spend excessive time cleaning themselves and avoid situations where there is a risk of smelling bad. This condition can create a lot of anxiety and interfere with a person’s ability to function normally in their life. Fortunately, there are effective treatments that can help people cope with this fear.

Symptoms of the Fear of Smelling Bad

Most people have a routine before going out in public. Showering, washing your hair, applying deodorant, shaving, brushing your teeth, and using a favorite perfume or cologne are all normal and healthy behaviors. If you have bromidrophobia, however, this is not enough.

Symptoms can include:

You may develop extensive hygiene rituals you obsessively follow before leaving the house. Your showers may gradually become longer as you worry you are not clean enough.

Some people with bromidrophobia shower three or more times per day. Others damage their skin through excessive scrubbing and the drying effects of hygiene products.

Your fear might expand past hygiene rituals and render you unable to use public restrooms due to fears of emitting odors. Women may develop a fear of being around others during their menstrual cycles.

People with this fear of smelling bad may also carry large bags wherever they go, full of emergency supplies designed to mask any odors that might develop.

What Causes the Fear of Smelling Bad?

Good hygiene reduces the risks of disease transmission and infection. Regular washing along with sterilizing procedures when appropriate (operating rooms, piercing equipment, etc.), is important for good health. However, likemysophobia, or fear of germs, bromidrophobia takes cleanliness too far.

This fear may also be related to a condition known asolfactory reference syndrome. This condition causes people to obsess over their own body odors.

Bromidrophobia vs. OCD

Body odors are natural. Human beings, like animals, emit natural scents from our bodies. In a healthy person with reasonable hygiene, these odors are not offensive.

In fact, these odors contain pheromones, which act as chemical communicators. Insects and other animals rely largely on pheromones to stimulate a wide range of behaviors. In humans, these chemicals seem to play a role in sexual attraction, although some research disputes this effect.

Today, advertising and social conditioning teach us that it’s best to smell like soap, shampoo, and deodorant, which makes it is easy to develop the belief that any natural bodily scent is “bad” or “dirty” and you should mask it. In reality, it is impossible and unhealthy to remove or mask every single whiff of natural odor that might be emitted from the human body.

Bromidrophobia may result from a conflict between the “ideal” but unrealistic perception of how we should smell and the reality of our bodies' natural odor.

Complications of Bromidrophobia

Like many phobias, bromidrophobia tends to worsen over time. Eventually, you might find yourself restricting your activities. You may:

Social Phobia Symptoms and Progression

Treatment for Bromidrophobia

Bromidrophobia is not a distinct diagnosis, but it is a type ofspecific phobia. To be diagnosed with a specific phobia, the fear of smelling bad must cause you to experience excessive fear, avoidance, and distress.

Because of the impact, this anxiety disorder can have on your daily life, it is very important to discuss your bromidrophobia with aqualified mental health professional.

Cognitive-behavioral therapyis generally the treatment of choice.In this therapy, you will learn:

Your doctor may also prescribe medications to help you cope with symptoms of anxiety, depression, or other mental health conditions.

Overcoming your phobia is never easy, but with proper treatment, you can be successful.

What Treatments for Phobias Work Best?

Coping With the Fear of Smelling Bad

If you are struggling with anxieties over body odors, there are things you can do to cope:

Takeaway

Most people experience a fear of smelling bad once in a while. It might involve worrying about your breath before kissing a new romantic partner, or concerns about sweat-smells after an intense workout. These are normal and can often be resolved relatively easily. If your fears are excessive and interfere with your daily life, it might be a symptom of a condition known as bromidrophobia. If so, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional about treatments that can help.

10 of the Most Common Phobias

3 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Phillips KA, Menard W.Olfactory reference syndrome: demographic and clinical features of imagined body odor.General Hospital Psychiatry. 2011;33(4):398-406. doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2011.04.004.

Martin-Pichora AL, Antony MM.Successful treatment of olfactory reference syndrome with cognitive behavioral therapy: A case study.Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2011;18(4):545-554. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2010.11.007.

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