why do people not bathe?
 

I just cannot fathom y some people don't make any effort
to bathe and/or keep themselves clean. for instance a couple of
my neighbors reek. one liveson my floor, andeven riding the
elevator is unpleasant, as is walking down the hall, as his
body odor lingers. I just cannot wrap my head,around this!

But I agree with the OP, it can be annoying when people are ummm, i don't know how to word this, but you understand.

They merely wish to share the fruits of their sweaty labour with you.

Think of it as communism in action :thumbup:

hmm. I really never fathom.being remotely.intimate with my 70 year old neighbor
who regularly discuses his hallucinations with random neighbors
& has a huge pubic forest type beard on his face . nope, really doesn't do a thing for
me, but thanks for the suggestion!

That excuse might work for you :-p

Good to know. That's why all of the girls are all over me when I limp off the rugby pitch. :D

I've reported that ^ picture.

I've reported a lot of them too.

I shower every day normally but when I go through a depressive/negative symptoms period, I don't shower much as everything seems a gigantic effort and I have no energy. But I am ok now so am showering every day and washing my hair every other day.

OP, what do you mean by "I cannot wrap my head around this?" :/

Olympia, it means the OP is unable to 'get their head around it', in other words, the OP cannot understand why people don't bathe.

People with mental illnesses often struggle to find the motivation or energy to take care of themselves. Self-neglect is sometimes a symptom of schizophrenia, for example, which I am wondering if your neighbour may have if he hallucinates.

I am sorry that the smell is offensive. It isn't because of laziness though.

Thanks Laura.

When I don't have showers, it is not laziness *agrees with Laura*. I have mild OCD so normally I am very strict with my showering (sometimes I even shower twice a day), so you can probably imagine how low I get when I have negative symptoms to not have a shower.

Well at least then you know they will stay out of prison showers! :laugh:

It can be laziness but also lack of motivation when you're unwell.

As said people are old and cant manage in and out of the bath, people are ill and too weak to do so, people dont have time so skip a day or two ect, there are so many reasons really.

When I've gone days and I'll admit even weeks without bathing, It's usually associated with my depression. The last thing on my mind is "offending" people with my odour, then again, I seldom leave the house when I'm in that kind of state.

And also, OP, you shouldn't judge, you have no idea what your neighbours' situation is, don't be so ignorant.

That as well, if he is elderly and unwell and cant manage do you really expect him to jump in and out of the bath everyday just for you?

^ hyperhidrosis?

I agree with all the people posting about how some people find it hard to bathe.

I think being able mentally/physically to bathe, and choosing not to, is different to not being able to bathe due to mental or physical reasons.

Personally bathing has always been something that's never really been effected by my mental state, I bathe every single day, always have. Whereas I have spent long periods of time in bed, not spoken to anyone, not left my home etc when I've been quite mentally unwell but still managed to bathe. I guess it's weird sometimes what being mentally ill does to you, and how it effects you.

People smell because that's the way they're supposed to smell. Good hygiene is simply a personal preference.

What Demons to Some said.

Some people can't bathe due to medical reasons, some find it hard due to mental health and others just don't give a ****.

With me it is just sheer laziness. I hate showering. It's boring and I can think of much more fun things to do. Perfume/deoderant ftw :p
For the record, I do shower ever two days, but I do wake up every time it's a shower day and sigh deeply.

In more serious news, for some sexual abuse survivors, being naked can be quite triggering and unpleasant.

This thread has actually been very interesting to read..

Nice having a jolly good read.

I wash my private bits in the basin daily, and under my arm pits every other day, as I don't sweat much unless it's hot weather or I've worked out(rarelly). Or similar times when I sweat.

When I'm feeling happy, I'll shower a few times a week and have a long bath at the end of each week usually.
If I'm feeling very very depressed I won't wash at all. But luckily that hasn't lasted longer than a few days.
With the very rare occassion on a time I got dumped by a gf I had been going out for my longest of a year.
No comments for that, but was about a week I was totally neglecting myself in my bedroom.

When I go out and meet friends, I always have a bath beforehand, or a shower if I'm stressed out and in a rush.

The times I've had a date with someone who asked me out or vice versa. I always bath for about a good hour beforehand and have a good soak in the bubbles.

Also I don't like bathing too often as my skin gets itchy and very dried out.

very often i stroll onto the bus and i reek normally because i have come out of dance/very active lesson, and i dont look like i have. people often must think i dotn shower.

also when i am really down, i just forget, i only remember the things that my body reminds me of, ie the need to have a drink, or food, or smoke, or go to the toilet..and even then i put off moving for as long as humanly possible

A lot of people when I went to uni didn't shower... I think some ppl like to smell.. ripe.

My roomate wouldn't shower but once a week. When he did shower it would tur the shower black, n the next morning the shower would smell like him n not soap. He smelt bad even after he showered sometimes.he said he would be 'too busy' to shower. As he would sit on his computer.. my welding suit smelt bettersweating in it for months, than him. Developed me to shower twice a day. I'm a busy person and manage to shower twice a day, I can't wrap my head around it either. I find it disrespectful personally...

It's repugnant to be around people who don't bother with personal hygeine but I can understand the valid reasons why some people can't. When it's laziness etc. i.e a choice rather than being too clinically depressed or afraid or whatever then there's no excuse and as said above, it's disrespectful.. to yourself nevermind anyone else.

Aright I'm sorry that what I have said has come across wrong.

there are some details I should have included, but it's a bit of a moot point now
I suppose.

yes. I'm aware that lack of self-care is associated with mental illness. I'm very
well aware of that fact.

I dont wash when I'm depressed, or when I'm in a more 'high' mood.

*shrugs* I don't sweat much anyways.

Why should people *have* to wash. Some people don't want to. Leave them be.With respect, you're on a SI website. I doubt you want people judging you for why you self harm. So it's a bit unfair to judge those who do something different to you.

I find it fascinating, and have noticed somewhat of a trend on this site over the couple of years I have been here, on this site where alot of people don't want judgement, we sure are as hell quick to judge, and then are the quickest to whinge when people judge us. Just saying.

I have inner ear problems and my dizziness is triggered by the shower. (roaring noises and slippery surfaces) soooo it takes a lot for me to work up the courage to go in the shower because im so scared of knocking myself out or something ¬_¬
xxx

I guess.my confusion lies in the fact that the only thing he doesn't clean
is himself. he's senior but seems to be in far better shape than I am.

and I'm far from the only person who notices it.

I HAVE to shower everyday or I get very anxious and paranoid about my own personal hygiene. I'm sure I don't smell but I like to think, "I've showered so therefore I won't smell of sweat etc etc."

Also, instead of telling complete strangers about it on a forum, why don't you tell the guy himself?

also, the whole world.is a judge. at this point in my life I pretty much come
to expect it

I have.

Then I don't see why you felt the need to post it here. I think it's offensive to people who don't shower/bathe as often as others. People DO bathe they just differ from one another as to how and when they do so.

I'm not really judging why you may or may not shower. I was made fun of for showering twice a day... not here but in my real life. To me it falls under just the, freedom of speech /hearing in my book.. when you go out you don't want to hear someone cussing like a sailor. I put up with a smelly roomate I feel that's just as disrespectful as cussing like a sailor. Heaven forbid I cuss sometimes... but I'm not bashing anyone.. if I goto a restaurant I don't want to smell anything other than the food. Heaven forbid you can not shower and just use perfumes deoderants. Its more or less aware of your surrounding than anything I guess. You could even go further into this and the question is, do you wash your hands after you piss or wipe your ass... I'm a clean freak n my own body grosses me out sometims so I have trouble when I know someone didn't and they want me to handshake touch something they touched whatever.. I don't know if I would call that judging. Everyones got hang ups. I can't even **** without putting t.p. down on the toilet bowl first. Just how I am

This is a good point, also I think if abuse happened while you were in a bath or shower it can obviously be triggering. I've had to get over my dislike of baths due to memories and things, because we don't have a shower so there's not really another option. I quite like baths now though :)

This.

Some houses don't even have showers, and baths can be difficult to navigate for many reasons.
Sensitivity is important. At work we get lots of elderly/vulnerable/homeless/in poor housing customers. Sometimes they give off a smell. I've volunteered with the homeless, it doesn't bother me. Some colleagues would spray air freshener after these customers had been. They were advised by management not to do this, because it's insensitive. I agree.
Plus, my Dad recently had quite severe bladder issues. He developed a smell for a while. He couldn't help it. I love my Dad, and knew he was going to get treatment.

If you're seriously concerned about someone's level of personal neglect, I'd consider giving adult social care a call, and maybe they can get someone to check up on them and see if they need a hand with anything.

This is a fab idea! :thumbup:

I shower everyday, unless I am having a really hard time and feeling bad then I wash my face etc but just won't have the energy or motivation to have one.

I hate hate hate baths. The steam from them makes me fell super claustrophobic and they in general scare me now.

People who just don't feel the need to shower I'm okay with. If that's how they want to live then go for it. Its not my choice but I'm not going to abuse them for how they want to live. Its like someone abusing me for smoking when that's my choice.

I would resent judgements about my cleanliness habits. I shower regularly etc but it is actually really hard to a) find the motivation and b) cope with being unclothed. When I am severely depressed I find it very hard to make myself shower.

I appreciate that bad smells are off-putting to people but going so far as to say someone with such a smell is disrespectful seems somewhat ridiculous to me. You don't know the hows and whys of that person's odour.

QFT

The longest i've gone without a shower was probably a week, i didn't care, i didn't see anyone, i was too depressed to get out of bed let alone shower :indifferent:

Normally its every 2 days, with deodourant in between

Hell i only got dressed today cos my parents were coming round

I usually have a bath every other day, the only times I really have a shower is if I'm stinking or whatever and I'm in a rush to get ready and out the house for something.
The only time I don't wash so much is when my depression is bad, I'll usually have like two baths a week at the most but it's cool cos I don't really leave the house when I feel that bad and just shut myself in my room and don't see anyone.

I have trouble with showering/washing because being naked in the bathroom is triggering for me. I feel very unsafe. Sometimes I wear a swimsuit--that helps but not enough. When I'm very depressed being triggered on top of that just seems like too much for me, so I don't wash enough. I try to keep clean but it's difficult. My hair often isn't as clean as I would like, but I usually keep the rest of my body relatively clean.

Washing can be difficult for lots of different people for lots of reasons. I'm glad most people on this thread seem to understand that.

I spent 2 weeks without showering.... i pretty much pent 2 weeks not getting out of bed... had food and drink provisions and just did not move... no motivation, depressed as hell... but god was i smelly lol!

QFT

If someone does not want to shower, that is their choice. However if it gets to the point where they are going into public and disturbing others with their smell, something should be done about it. Someone people do not like to use toilets either, but when they decide to urinate on the street, people get upset.
It is the same thing.