Discussion What is the longest period of time you've gone without showering?

[Out_Of_My_Head]

I used to be like most people and do it automatically upon getting out of bed every day. I was a depressed person "going through the motions" in the real world. Now I sometimes go for days without really getting out of bed (or off the sofa) so sometimes its five days or so before something comes up where I have to. I think that my record at this point is 15 days, but my itchy beard was more of the reason for doing it than feeling dirty. Obviously I'm already "not living". I haven't seen a doctor other than my psych in over 10 years. I'm trying to go out naturally but it's not happening fast enough.

 

[iCryInMySecretSpot]

depression has made it so if i dont have a reason to do something, i wont do it.

if i am staying home all day, i am not showering.

i know i should, but i dont care and dont have the willpower to do it. my record was 4 days.

if im going out, my brain will allow me to do so. in fact just having something to do/meeting someone ill shower, use all my hair products, floss, shave, etc. but i dont have the energy to do it daily if im just staying home.

 

[underairpressure]

I think the worst I've done is about a week and a half. I was injured and stuck at home so I just....... didn't do it. Finally cracked when I started getting skin rashes

 

[froggirl9000]

Not sure about the specific count of days or weeks or whatever, but around six months. More than once, even. It used to be... almost my routine, but there was nothing really routine about it. Around six months was just when the rashes and itching would finally get too much and I wouldn't be able to take it anymore.
I can go without showering for months without batting an eye, only when the rashes get too bad do I really notice. That being said, I wouldn't recommend it. You'll reek like death, look like death and mentally feel like death.

My teen years were so fucking tragic. I feel like, with everything I neglected and became numb to and just everything with my "life" then... it honestly feels like I sacrificed my humanity. My hygiene during that period is one testament to how I was "living", if it can even be called that considering I felt like a walking corpse at the best of times, during that point.

 

[pechaberry]

Depression has put me at 3 or 4 weeks before. Sometimes when I'm really bad I'll just be in bed from morning to night and only get out to pee and eat a handful of whatever I have laying around so my stomach stops hurting. It can last weeks. Failed out of college the first time that way.

 

[Out_Of_My_Head]

Not sure about the specific count of days or weeks or whatever, but around six months. More than once, even. It used to be... almost my routine, but there was nothing really routine about it. Around six months was just when the rashes and itching would finally get too much and I wouldn't be able to take it anymore.
I can go without showering for months without batting an eye, only when the rashes get too bad do I really notice. That being said, I wouldn't recommend it. You'll reek like death, look like death and mentally feel like death.

My teen years were so fucking tragic. I feel like, with everything I neglected and became numb to and just everything with my "life" then... it honestly feels like I sacrificed my humanity. My hygiene during that period is one testament to how I was "living", if it can even be called that considering I felt like a walking corpse at the best of times, during that point.

I've never had a skin rash, but my scalp has gotten itchy a couple of times. My quick solution was to stand over the sink and soak my head with peroxide. I'd let it do it's thing for a minute or two, dry my head with a towel, and the problem was solved until the next shower.

Depression has put me at 3 or 4 weeks before. Sometimes when I'm really bad I'll just be in bed from morning to night and only get out to pee and eat a handful of whatever I have laying around so my stomach stops hurting. It can last weeks. Failed out of college the first time that way.

I failed out the first time that way also. A few years later I went back and graduated Magna Cum Laude (I'd managed to "withdraw" instead of taking the F's the first time.) I made really good money at one point, but then went through a series of psychotic episodes that left me sort of catatonic and completely unable to do the work I'd done before. Then came the divorce and it's now been about 25 years of misery. I'm not even sure how long this site has existed, but I was on the other one that still exists (can't remember the name) before they stopped allowing discussion of methods. I lurked in the Usenet group but never posted.

 

[pechaberry]

I've never had a skin rash, but my scalp has gotten itchy a couple of times. My quick solution was to stand over the sink and soak my head with peroxide. I'd let it do it's thing for a minute or two, dry my head with a towel, and the problem was solved until the next shower.

I failed out the first time that way also. A few years later I went back and graduated Magna Cum Laude (I'd managed to "withdraw" instead of taking the F's the first time.) I made really good money at one point, but then went through a series of psychotic episodes that left me sort of catatonic and completely unable to do the work I'd done before. Then came the divorce and it's now been about 25 years of misery. I'm not even sure how long this site has existed, but I was on the other one that still exists (can't remember the name) before they stopped allowing discussion of methods. I lurked in the Usenet group but never posted.

Yeah I finally managed to graduate with my nursing license too. I fucking hate every minute of it. Constantly go back and forth from being able to work to being forced to quit and try and survive because I can't get out of bed. It feels like an endless loop of hell. The cherry on top is feeling like a complete fucking asshole because you were one of the lucky ones who made it through college and have a means to make money, but you just fucking can't because your brain fights you every minute of the day. No one wants a nurse who has panic attacks on the floor and has to fucking hide in the med closet. I'm not fit to look after other people. I would never want me as my nurse. Feels like a waste. Someone else should have gotten to do it not me.

 

[Dejected 55]

Couldn't say exactly... but definitely have gone months. Truth be told most people shower way too often anyway. I knew a guy who used to shower multiple times a day and he wasn't working a dirty/sweaty/outdoor job either. Too much washing is bad for your skin. I forget what the healthy recommendations are, but it isn't daily for sure.

 

[Out_Of_My_Head]

Couldn't say exactly... but definitely have gone months. Truth be told most people shower way too often anyway. I knew a guy who used to shower multiple times a day and he wasn't working a dirty/sweaty/outdoor job either. Too much washing is bad for your skin. I forget what the healthy recommendations are, but it isn't daily for sure

Yeah I finally managed to graduate with my nursing license too. I fucking hate every minute of it. Constantly go back and forth from being able to work to being forced to quit and try and survive because I can't get out of bed. It feels like an endless loop of hell. The cherry on top is feeling like a complete fucking asshole because you were one of the lucky ones who made it through college and have a means to make money, but you just fucking can't because your brain fights you every minute of the day. No one wants a nurse who has panic attacks on the floor and has to fucking hide in the med closet. I'm not fit to look after other people. I would never want me as my nurse. Feels like a waste. Someone else should have gotten to do it not me.

I can totally relate. Nursing isn't an easy major, I had a neighbor who was becoming one. Mine is in engineering and I can't decide what's worse; the way that I feel about myself, or the way that people view me for an illness that is chronic and not my fault. I'm genuinely a pretty decent person. I visit/call my aunt who has Alzheimer's and can't really carry on a conversation, but it makes her happy anyway.

I can totally relate. Nursing isn't an easy major, I had a neighbor who was becoming one. Mine is in engineering and I can't decide what's worse; the way that I feel about myself, or the way that people view me for an illness that is chronic and not my fault. I'm genuinely a pretty decent person. I visit/call my aunt who has Alzheimer's and can't really carry on a conversation, but it makes her happy anyway.

I think I might have messed up the thread by adding a quote/reply and deleting another, but I'm still getting used to how this site functions.

 

[Mirelight]

2 months
Even now I only shower cuz I have to be around people and have to work. I try doing it twice every week, just can't bring myself to do it every day even tho I probably should.

 

[Asya]

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[Spite]

I'm pretty sure there's been a thread exactly like this posted before and I answered it a few months ago, but I can answer it again.

I shower daily. I think the longest I've ever gone without showering in my entire life is probably a day, or maybe 48 hours at the absolute most maybe once when I was a lot younger. But otherwise, I'm consistent in showering daily.

 

[froggirl9000]

I've never had a skin rash, but my scalp has gotten itchy a couple of times. My quick solution was to stand over the sink and soak my head with peroxide. I'd let it do it's thing for a minute or two, dry my head with a towel, and the problem was solved until the next shower.

I more or less just lumped it into the itching, but yeah the scalp is a big one, about on par with the rashes on the rest of the body. You'll get one, and then before you know it the other will follow as soon as that one is gone, and then you're alternating between one or the other until the next shower. One thing which I will acknowledge made the issue worse is that I would only change clothes when needed, and only that clothing item (usually just applies to underwear tbh), so the clothes would get dirty and would wind up causing rashes too even if my showering habits had not caused it (the rash would quickly subside upon taking the offending item off, and quickly restart if I put it back on).

 

[Forever Sleep]

My shower has been broken for years. Recently, I've fallen into bad habits of letting hygiene slip but, I tend to suffer fairly quickly if I don't wash, with skin rashes etc. Probably the longest has been 3 days.

 

[FoxSauce]

The longest Ive been without showering is 2 days not on a row but eh.

Thats ik im really struggling

 

[Dejected 55]

I'm also allergic to a lot of the things they put into various soaps and body washes, so for me I'm more likely to get a rash from taking a shower than I am for not taking one over several days. My face breaks out more if I bathe less... but I can wash my face at the sink.

 

[DistraughtWolf]

Minimum one shower a day before bed, I think I haven't missed a shower for atleast 10+ years now.

It's just one of those things that I can't let slide and I absolutely have to shower before going to bed.

 

[chuckapalahniuk27]

unless i'm extra motivated i can go awhile without showering. the longest i've gone is about a month but i still change clothes and ive never had issues with my skin or anything

 

[bl33ding_heart]

2 weeks …

 

[bucketofcats]

I often go several weeks without showering, sometimes I shower a few times a week. I haven't been keeping track, but I think I'm over two months now without showering. I have no idea if I smell really bad or not. Sometimes when I have to go out I'm a bit self-conscious about it, but I just can't be bothered to do it. It just sounds exhausting right now. I don't know how I used to do it every day.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I shower once a week.