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
learningtore...
- Date posted
- 25w
Multiple Exposure Therapy???
Does anyone else have compulsions that mix in with each other and you have to end up picking what one makes you LESS scared or uncomfortable but it’s still overwhelming? Like rn I used all my hand towels, need to wash and dry them but no clean ones to dry hands with currently, a bath towel makes me feel like whatever was on my hair or body even after a shower is contaminated cause I don’t want it on my HANDS, but there’s one DRY and untouched towel but I think it’s contaminated by something else so I’m too scared to use it…. What do you do in this situation? It happens a lot when they intertwine and I dunno what to do ….. also what one is more or less valid…which one would help me more in the future. Regardless I’m sitting here thinking I have bleach or another chemical on my hands cause at the time I decided to dry my hands with the hair towel…
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 18w
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"?
taylorrpaigee
- Date posted
- 15w
Any tips?
This is my first time posting - I have a fear of throw up and I’ve been told it is cause from my OCD (repetitive thoughts) which makes sense because if someone gets sick it replays over and over again and I can’t get it out of my head. It’s gotten a lot worse in the past maybe two years. I’m always on edge that someone is going to get sick around me. I’ve heard the “best or most common” way to help with this is exposure therapy and OBVIOUSLY I don’t want to do that. Anyone have any tips or anything for this (or maybe have done the exposure therapy)?
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