Trigger warning for contamination ocd. I saw a dark water spot on the bathroom floor. While it looked like water and not blood ocd keeps making me paranoid it was blood which is my major trigger. How should I deal with this uncertainty and what are some coping mechanisms I can use? Thanks in advance.

Hey I have contamination OCD also and I'm doing ERP now. In this situation you would choose to live with the uncertainty that it's probably not blood but it could be although very unlikely without doing any cleaning compulsions and try not to ruminate by doing mental compulsions in your mind. It's really hard at first but once you choose to accept the uncertainty and continue on with normal tasks the anxiety will come down! You can do this! I support you!!

It definitely will! Every time you fight a compulsion OCD loses power! Thank you so much!

Is there a specific something you are worried you will contract from blood? Or is if the blood in general that scares you?

Therapy may help, such as ERP and CBT. I’ve never went for thereby, so I don’t know what that’s like from personal experience, but only from reading about it and watching videos of psychologist/therapists talking about the therapy’s and how they work.

Yes. Ive been waitlisted for months. Was hoping I can get some techniques to use today as the anxiety on the what if is troubling me

Doubts123- thank you for the tip!! I’m trying to do this and it’s very hard. I’ve been stuck with “is it or is it not” and decided to try to stop thinking about it because I will never know with certainty and to move on without wiping my shoe bottom. It’s very very hard but I’m hoping this helps me in the long run. Good luck to you on your ERP journey.

Hi joschou. It actually just disgusts me. I know that it’s very very hard to get diseases from blood in public bathroom but there were two events last year that caused me to have such a repulsion from it. I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say that I walked into very dirty and bloody bathroom stalls. Those two days I ended up showering for an hour and have since had a hard time getting out of that even when I don’t see these things. Just the hint of anything having been there really freaks me out.