I washed clothes in the washer and put it in drier.. now i am getting thoughts were clothes washed? Its top load maytag machine and gets locked while washing. It gets unlocked only when done? Am I right?

I've been dealing with contamination OCD for a long time now so I've used different techniques at different times that helped it become more manageable. But I only recently started viewing my concerns about infection as "intrusive thoughts". Which before I wasn't. I was thinking I had to do everything I could to protect myself and others from disease. Thinking of them as intrusive thoughts has started to help me view them differently and start to figure out which ones are going overboard. I also have to accept some of the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with cleaning less. I gave myself some rules to begin living by. One is that I have to realize it's ok to say I'm not cleaning this much even if there are germs out there. And two I can't get rid of every single germ and I can't be scared of the small amounts. This one is tricky because my ocd really likes to question how small of an amount is enough for transmission so I try and generalize more. I'm still working on it all but for some reason realizing germ thoughts may be intrusive thoughts helped me try to respond to them differently.

thanks ... its really hard..

i really liked talking to you.. thanks a lot..

: ) I really liked talking to you too!! I'm happy if I could help at all!

today i was flushing the toilet and felt my tied up hairs touched seat... lol...got urge to take shower and hair wash... but m resisting the compulsion...

Harshi and doubts are ocd are sooo similar. Harshi I too tie my hair when using public bathrooms. When I see something gross it makes me feel like it got allover me resulting in long showers. Unfortunately, I’m wait listed for therapy. Let know what is working for you. Best of luck!!

Let's keep sharing! There's not a ton of people with contamination OCD on here. Any tips will be great!

I like this idea. Sharing our progress and tips will help. Doubts I like ur comment on reframing intrusive thoughts to be just that, intrusive thoughts. I will try it though it’s not very easy

I had this specific fear for a while. I got scared I forgot to put soap in. I started writing down with times exactly when I put the laundry in when I put the soap in etc. I stopped eventually.

I go to a therapist here in Greece

I am exposed to fears, to my thoughts, what ever I am afraid of gradually. The rule is do what you want to avoid. Also when we have intrusive thoughts we feel excessively anxious. Then we have to ask ourselves what can be happened if this intrusive thought come true?

The worst scenario brings the most anxiety. By being exposed to it you will get used to it and the anxiety will lesen

Thanks for sharing Kent! I'm doing ERP as well I just have a hard time getting used to the idea of exposing myself to certain germs, really one in particular. I understand if avoiding contact with it is illogical but there would be times when it is logical to avoid contact and I have a really difficult time finding the difference between these.

How to get rid of gross feeling? If i resist, it stays with me for days

If i resist compulsion, the feeling stays with me for days...

How long have you been dealing with this harshi? If your compulsions are responding to the gross feeling as the trigger I could see this being constant or growing fast. How many compulsions do you go through until it feels right?

its almost 1 year now...i fix one thing, it gets replaced by something else. just started ERP.. for washer issue, it happened first time today and i wached the washer video, lid can only get unlocked when done.. so i was fine with it...

today again i went to office restroom, my hairs tied.. still i felt what if my hairs got touched to seat while putting papers on it..this particular feeling started from yesterday.. for me one feeling goes after fighting and other comes.. yesterday i ended up taking shower when i reached home and washed my hair too...but i feel for my hairs to touch on seat, i really need to sit on my knees or be in squat position... just my bending little bit, its impossible i guess

Even though the washer issue is over, ocd will keep coming up with ways for contamination to occur or possibly occur. With contamination I realized that the broader issues need to be worked on because going through the hierarchy will only help you manage it better but it won't help when ocd creates new scenarios. Right now it sounds like you're feeling better about one fear because you were able to rationalize to yourself that it wasn't a cause for contamination. But in life there's always going to be opportunities for contamination so I think it's good to decide how to handle germs in general sense. (I'm working on this now too)

I think a good one for you especially because you're not concerned with actual diseases is to force yourself to only shower once a day or every day as you normally would for basic hygiene and not because of the toilet. Other times when you're not sure if something happened you take you best memory of events and sit with the uncertainty.

I know, that's the ocd intrusive thought coming in. As you do this you anxiety will spike but it will get easier and the anxiety will diminish. Think about how much time and energy you'll get back! It's helpful to start identifying these thoughts as ocd then it gives you more motivation to resist the compulsion.

Good for you!!! That's so great!! Remind yourself you are making ocd smaller and smaller! ?

It is hard! For me every germ thought that came in I took seriously and would get hung up on how to handle them but when I realized maybe some of them were just intrusive thoughts I started to take them less seriously

I'm still confused about some cleaning/transmission facts but it has helped with some thoughts!

got this quote..” you dont hv to learn how to control your thoughts,you just have to stop letting them control you”... lets try our best...

Many times I am not sure about something that I am engaged in

And that's why I do a lot of checking

As a part of compulsion

I remember i started the machine... clothes were wet when i moved to drier. I feel what if machine was not done when i moved to drier. my machine gets locked while washing. I think it gets unlocked when its done but m not sure

OCD loves doubts!!

I have a lot of doubts

Almost all the time

But after so many years with OCD I feel much more comfortable

With this disorder

@kent79 do you mean fighting it? Do you have ERP skills you use? If so could you share?

Ι have problems with germs too but if for a while you leave your hands unwashed , the most uncomfortable you feel the best result you will have

Resistance on obsessions doesn't help.

then what shud i do? plz guide me

On the contrary resistance on compulsions helps a lot

Create an internal dialogue and ask yourself what it will be happened if this feeling is true or is going to be increased

The feeling that you have described can not pass so soon. our aim is to decrease the intensity of this feeling not to disappear it in one day. Unfortunately this is not feasible

yes... you are right.. but i try to fight one by one... thats what i can think off at one moment.. right now m trying to rationalize my office restroom issue.. plz help me with pointers if possible... I still don’t know how to resolve it in broader way..

i feel like i will make my whole house dirty

?

yes.. I am trying to do so.. in my erp session, I was told to find proofs for and against the event? I am trying to collect that.. that too so stupid that my hair touched back side of seat...

You could measure with a ruler how far your hair would be from the toilet when you bent over to put the papers down. ocd likes to come back with a lot what ifs to make impossible scenarios seem possible. Especially when the scenario isn't clear. How come you're not worried about the papers touching the toilet?

actually you are right, my ass also touched the seat, paper was just in front part, but not worried abt that.. why hairs give this obession, i feel hairs are neutral so i wont feel it.. i know its impossible to touch it... i make my own video sometime with chair just to see what could actually happen.. if it was my house.. i would hv not worried.. dont get anxiety that time...but in office... i get it..i also tried to bend that much on bed while standing and making my hairs touch it... i almost fall on bed...so i hv so many proofs but that impossible if...

OCD loves to come back with those ifs

how do you deal it everyday?

for me its all touchability issue... i will try to implement that its just ocd causing it..

Wow. I struggled with this very very same thought yesterday. I’m surprised it’s not just me

Meant to say ** harshi and doubts our ocd is very very similar

everyday i get just one or two ocd thoughs , big enough to change my day...?

I really like that quote!! Me too! Sometimes one thought or obsession will take over. There are times when things are going good all day and then boom a thought or dirty object that just takes over.

Guys. I’m getting on an airplane tomorrow and my biggest fear. Airplane bathrooms ugh!! Any tips here? Usually I just use purell when I get back to my seat

Logically you know you can't get anything from the bathroom although it feels gross! Wash hands at the sink one time for one happy birthday song! Good luck!!

Ι know its difficult but when we make our effort it worth s

Although sometimes the result its not exactly what we we want