Quick warning that this will have a pretty detailed description of a really awful tactile experience. If that might be distressing for you right now feel free to stop reading.

So when I was a kid I went to a summer camp and there they expected the kids to wash dishes after meals. But they put all the dishes from each table into one bucket of water and we were expected to wash them in that water, with no fresh water added. Just a big bucket of wetness with soggy pieces of food floating around in it. And we had to stick our hands in the water to scrub more food off the dishes. You couldn't even see the food past the fogginess from the soap, but you absolutely could feel it as it brushed up against your hands.

It was AWFUL and even though I was already diagnosed at the time they wouldn't allow me to skip that chore so I was forced into doing something that majorly triggered my sensory issues on a daily basis.

Ever since I've had a fear of handwashing dishes, or even touching dishes that have been sitting in the sink.

For a long time I just couldn't do it at all. Now I can wash them if I do it right away, but if the dish has any amount of water/wetness on it or it's been sitting in the sink I just can't. It's not a sensory thing now I don't think. Maybe a little bit, the wetness does bother me, but it seems more like a phobia.

It's something that's been really hard to explain to other people because I don't think this is an experience that would cause a phobia for most people. But it's affected me for 20 years now.

I guess I'm just curious if anyone else has had a long lasting fear develop due to a trigger that's specifically related to their sensory issues?