Bad Breath Blues..

[Dylan86]

Hi, my name's Dylan. I have been suffering from halitosis / halitophobia since I was 13 or 14. A few harsh experiences made me self conscious about my breath. I have had a yellow coating on my tongue more or less permanently for as long as I can remember as a result of a dustmite allergy.

At present, I have just started a new job as a customer contact agent which means I will be talking on the phone a lot. We've just had four weeks on the job training and tomorrow will be the first day on the phone. I'm dead scared because tomorrow I will be joining one of my colleagues at his work space and I will have to talk at close range. This worries me immensely because I am scared he / she will smell my bad breath and my colleagues will make fun of me. I quit my last job because I was so worried people would find me out.

I'm looking for a way to share this irrational fear and either confirm or disconfirm my beliefs about it. I have been so anxious of getting caught out that I avoid every situation where someone might be able to smell my breath. Real intimacy has been out of the question for quite some time. It's mind-boggling how much time I have spent thinking about bad breath, and what impact it has had on my life. My avoidance behaviour knows no boundaries. I'm at the stage now where I feel I just cannot go on this way. I have no idea whether I suffer from halitosis, but I cannot keep living my life stumbling around in the dark, drawing the worst conclusions.

I want to share my fear with a colleague at work and possibly and hopefully relieve my anxious mind so I am not constantly worrying. I'm unsure what it a good approach though and how the person will react. Any suggestions?