Broadcaster Seo Jang-hoon. [Newsis]
Broadcaster Seo Jang-hoon. [Newsis]

Former basketball player and broadcaster Seo Jang-hoon found common ground with a guest who, like him, struggles with hygiene OCD.

Monday's episode of KBS Joy's Ask Us Anything featured a woman who said her hygiene OCD had become severely worse after giving birth.

The woman described wiping down or washing every item she brought home from outside — including milk cartons and snack bags purchased at the supermarket — before putting them away.

Seo said he could relate, noting that he still wipes the rim of canned drinks before sipping them and deliberates over whether to wipe the outside of carton drinks before drinking. He added, however, that he had given up on wiping snack bags. "I do wipe my hands after eating, but wiping the bag itself became too exhausting as I got older, so I let that one go," he said. "Still, I completely understand the feeling."

The woman also said she does a full deep clean of her home the moment guests leave, and that after visiting a public bathhouse she re-bathes her children, convinced they got dirty again in the car on the way home.

Seo said he had done the same. "Back in the day, I would go to the bathhouse, ride home in the car, and then shower again because something just felt off," he said. He added a word of caution, however: "I understand it, but going too far is actually not great for the children."

"The longer you keep it up, the more worn out you get — it just wears you down," Seo said. "What matters is your energy and your time, and this keeps draining both. So I've been making a conscious effort to cut back as much as I can."

He said declining stamina had also forced his hand. "Past 40, your physical energy drops, and you naturally start cutting things out without even meaning to," he said. "But when you can't keep to your own rules, it takes a mental toll. You're doing all this to stay healthy and clean, yet it ends up harming your health and causing you stress. You have to find your own middle ground."


paq@heraldcorp.com