The differences between the three disorders are subtle and often confusing.
What Is Olfactory Reference Syndrome?
If you have olfactory reference syndrome, you are constantly afraid of emitting a foul odor.
Symphonie / The Image Bank / Getty Images
Your particular obsession may also change over time.
If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
Olfactory Reference Syndrome vs. Bromidrophobia
Compulsive grooming rituals are common in both disorders.
The main difference is that people with bromidrophobia do not tend to develop a particular obsession.
In bromidrophobia, the fear is more generalized, while in olfactory reference syndrome, it is more specific.
Additionally, some people with bromidrophobia fear body odors in others as well as themselves.
It translates as “fear of body odor.”
The primary difference is cultural.
Jiko-shu-kyofu focuses on the embarrassment that others would feel in the presence of someone with an offensive odor.
Medical Conditions
Phobias and other psychological disorders are never diagnosed when a medical condition causes the symptoms.
Additionally, a fear is considered rational and appropriate when it is in proportion to the situation.
Some medical conditions cause pronounced bodily odors, including halitosis and bacterial vaginosis.
Some also conceptualize this syndrome as related tobody dysmorphic disorder.
As in all forms of OCD, obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors tend to create self-replicating loops.
Phillips K, Menard W.Olfactory reference syndrome: demographic and clinical features of imagined body odor.General Hospital Psychiatry.
2016;80:11-16. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.11.001
Borigini, Mark, MD.
Olfactory Reference Syndrome.Psychology Today.
January 25, 2012.
