Jess Battison
Amou Haji earned himself the title of the ‘world’s dirtiest man’ after going 60 years without washing himself before his death.
The 96-year-old died in October 2022 and was well-known in his community in Iran for being pretty filthy.
An author who once visited him claimed that he ‘blended into the barren landscape’ because his skin was so thickly caked in mud and dirt. Amou apparently ‘resembled a rock’ when he sat still.
Shortly before he died, local villagers managed to persuade him to finally have a wash after years of pestering him to.
Sadly however, Iran’s IRNA news agency said he fell ill shortly after washing again for the first time, passing away a few months later.
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The man refused for years to wash himself or have a bath and there’s a tragic reason why.
It’s believed Amou suffered with ablutophobia – the overwhelming fear of bathing, cleaning, or washing. Healthline say this is an ‘anxiety disorder that falls under the category of specific phobias’.
He reportedly avoided freshening himself up because he feared being clean would make him sick.
Amou reckoned that soap and water could cause disease so totally avoided using them both like the plague, meaning his skin was covered in ‘soot and pus’ after decades of grime had built up.
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Speaking about this fear to The Blade, Dr Siva Yechoor from The Toledo Clinic said: "Ablutophobia is extremely rare. Right now, we see it more often in people who are older.
“They refuse to get cleaned up, but it’s more of an avoidance behavior than a phobia."
Dr Yechoor says they typically see it in ‘younger people’ who’ve had ‘some sort of traumatic experience’.
“We had a man in his 20’s who had an almost death experience in a body of water, and developed this aversion and fear of even going into the shower or taking a bath,” the expert added.
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Genetics and brain function may also play a part in developing the phobia, with symptoms including panic attacks, sweating and rapid heartbeat.
It’s said that offers of water, food and attempts to bathe Amou from his peers made him feel 'sad', suggesting he was perfectly happy with the unique (and dirtier) way he lived his life.
Before he died, he lived between a hole in the ground and a brick shack which was built by locals in the Iranian village of Dejgah. People got an insight into his unusual lifestyle thanks to a short 2013 documentary he was the subject of, titled The Strange Life of Amou Haji.