Anonymous
- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 3y
As a therapist I would never put a client in harm’s way when it comes to actual exposures. When you are doing self exposures you can weight the benefits against actual risk! I risk dying in a car accident everyday that I drive, but this risk doesn’t keep me from going where I need to go! If an exposure could cause actual harm, move on to something different. Try an exposure that would elicit the same amount of high anxiety but actually doesn’t risk harm. When it comes to contamination get creative! And, you could also consult an expert (doctor, infectious disease worker, etc) to get a go ahead or actual data on risk! But…….don’t ask them more than once! 😉
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y
This helps! Do you do things like “extreme” exposures? Like where would you draw the line between just a really scary exposure and something actually dangerous? Like particularly for contamination?
OCDMMOCDMM
- Date posted
- 3y
I’ve wondered this as well. Like I’ve heard of people touching public toilet seats and not being allowed to wash their hands.
CaptainKierkegaardCaptainKierk...
- Date posted
- 3y
The compromise could be that you are allowed to wash your hands once your anxiety comes down. I am planning to do some digust exposures that are similar, and that was my idea.
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y
Yea and the sad thing is I understand kinda why it might be necessary cause if I’m out with a friend and they use a public bathroom I’ll still be concerned like what if they didn’t wash as well as I would what if they put their bag on the ground but still it’s like. Isn’t that genuinely dangerous like that will actually make me sick lol.
OCDMMOCDMM
- Date posted
- 3y
Mine were never that extreme but sometimes I felt like I was going against common hygiene practices. Like not washing my hands before taking my pills. Like you’re supposed to wash your hands before you put something in your mouth.
CaptainKierkegaardCaptainKierk...
- Date posted
- 3y
Yeah, I don’t fear contamination, but I feel disgust (like I’m ruining my day) and also a sense that I’m a lesser person for not following certain rules (washing hands and not touching people with those hands). Some of those rules might actually be important, so it’s hard to figure out what to do there. Maybe I’ll get a consenting individual that you can touch with the contaminant who will wash themselves right afterward.
anonymous caterpillar 🐛 anonymous ca...
- Date posted
- 3y
Another approach that you might like better than extreme exposures is to try to slowly reduce your OCD behaviors until they get down to a normal level. This way, you don’t need to do any extreme purposeful exposures. If you’re not sure if something is extreme or not, ask yourself what someone close to you without OCD would do. If you’re still not sure, you could always ask someone if it’s reasonable or not. Also, if you think something might be OCD, it probably is.
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y
Nah the whole concept is purposely doing unreasonable things like using a public bathroom and not washing your hands. You are still supposed to slowly build up to it til it feels less scary, it’s not like flooding, but the idea is still to eventually do extreme things so normal things that are still scary to you, like using a public bathroom while washing hands and all, will become much easier, and it might also reduce fears that might arise if you’re with a friend who uses a public bathroom and you’re concerned they didn’t wash as well as you did.
anonymous caterpillar 🐛 anonymous ca...
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous Alright, it was just a suggestion. You don’t have to like it.
Jeffrey Jeffrey
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
An extreme exposure would be on the higher end of the hierarchical ladder of your fears. When starting out with ERP, generally you would start with the easier things first and work your way up the hierarchy until you reach what bothers you the most. Although I am not a therapist, I am confident in saying that a therapist would not give someone anything that would be considered dangerous - the OCD is likely to consider it dangerous because it is a fear of ours. Hope that helps.
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y
Yea no the concept includes that build up but some of the things actually seem genuinely dangerous outside of the ocd- like touching public bathroom surfaces and not washing hands, touching a public bathroom tampon disposal box and not washing hands. Like those surfaces genuinely have germs on them that can make you sick.
Jeffrey Jeffrey
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Germs are everywhere. For example, I had Covid but I have followed the cdc guidelines. The purpose of the exposure is to help us sit with uncertainty. I know it is uncomfortable but it teaches us how to live with the uncertainty that we may or may not get sick.
Related posts
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 21w
Seeking advice on my contamination OCD
So I have pretty intense contamination OCD tied to Moral/Real event OCD, and I'm having a hard time with it because part of me does genuinely believe my logic checks out, and I was hoping to get some insight as to how to change the way I see it from other people who sort of get the mindset involved :). To sum it up as well as I can, I basically have a very souped-up version of the same item-event association most people have. For example, let's say you have a HORRIBLE, GOD AWFUL relationship with a person you can't even begin to think of favorably even years after the event. They had gotten you a stuffed animal for your anniversary at some point. You finally "escape" the relationship, and you throw away the stuffed animal. This is seen as a very normal and sound-of-mind action. Here's where things get tricky: For me, throwing out that stuffed animal wouldn't be enough. After all, it touched my table didn't it? And my table touched the floor right? And these things now carry that person's germs. And if I don't get rid of them, then they'll infect my future belongings. This logic isn't entirely flawed either, as even my OCD specialist said he believes in a "weaker version of what I do". How am I supposed to convince myself that what I'm believing is false when the literal psychologist confirmed that what I'm doing is just a more in-depth version of a normal experience? Ex: I have a new outfit, fresh and clean. I'm unbothered and happy, but I knick the side of a table. The table holds awful associations. I get this awful sense of dread. The clothes are now somewhat sullied, and I'll eventually have to give them away. I don't think I'm explaining this as well as I could, but I feel like those notions are there. Anyways, does anyone have any insight as to how to get my mind to genuinely believe that interacting with these things is "safe"?
bun <3
- Date posted
- 18w
everything around me feels contaminated :((
sorry this is super long i just wanna know if anyone else has been thru something similar bc i feel super alone 🩷 i have super bad contamination ocd. it was bad already but my house was like my safe space until a few months ago someone brought something into my house that i considered ‘contaminated’. and so then i felt like that part of the house was contaminated, then it spread to everything outside my room (since family is moving around touching stuff) and then somehow i got convinced everything in my room except my bed is contaminated and i need to wash my hands after touching it. in my mind its like the contamination just infinitely spreads to things after the tiniest bit of touch. idek what im afraid of anymore or even what the original thing was but i can’t let it go. when i have to wash off contamination i have to wash at least 4 times or until it feels right, or sometimes take rlly long showers and wipe down all my stuff. i even throw away food and clothes or just whole items sometimes because they feel so contaminated i don’t want them in my space. i can’t be super near people or have anyone touch me, and i also can’t bring anything new into my room since it had to go through the entry of my house which feels contaminated. i feel like all i do is lay in bed and then wash my hands and do compulsions so i can go eat or do other stuff around the house. also i never go out because i’m bc people outside make me feel dirty, and i hate thinking about how many people have touched stuff in stores or in public and stuff. so im just in my room worrying all day. i feel so trapped and the contamination/avoiding it is all i think about anymore i barely have time for anything else and im never present when i talk to people because im worrying about if i accidentally got contaminated. im starting erp next week and knowing that im going to have to expose myself to things is really freaking me out. does anyone else have this kind of ocd ? im exhaustedddd 🥲🥲💔
JCTC
- Date posted
- 15w
Help with Contamination OCD
Does anyone have any tips that helped them? Mine is due to a specific person and I work with them so it’s been really difficult. I’ve started ERP which has been reaaalllllly challenging and I would love to hear from anyone else that has gone through any type of contamination ocd and how they have overcome or are fighting their way through it. Thank you!l
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