CONTAMINATION OCD: Hi all! I’m new to the app and I think I’m just looking for people who understand what’s going on. I was diagnosed with OCD when I was 6, am now 19. It started as hoarding, but morphed into various subsets throughout my life. Of course all of it is hard, but this summer I developed contamination OCD and I have never struggled with any other subset like I do this one. I went through a break-up and soon realized I was uncomfortable wearing other peoples clothes, and then when my mom would kiss my forehead Goodnight, and it quickly spiraled into any spit, blood, bodily fluid, etc. I then got to my second year of college a couple weeks ago, and it has spiraled more than I could’ve ever imagined. I love my roommate/friend, but I can’t go on her side of the room. I can’t have anyone touch me or my things and I am drenching everything, even my face/lips with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, hand sanitizer all of the time. I’m starting OCD-specialized treatment next week, and it’s hard to not feel hopeless bc I can’t imagine this ever going away due to how severe it has gotten. I miss hugging people and curling up on my roommates bed at night to debrief. I’m having nightly breakdowns about it, and I cannot thank her enough for how understanding she has been. I miss physical touch, even high fives, and I just don’t feel like a person. Can someone who has experience with contamination OCD give me some kind of hope? I just want to feel human again.

Hello, i have very severe contamination ocd, and as i am writing this i feel my hands are dirty lol, but anyways i wanted to know if there’s anyone specialised in Contamination ocd? No matter what type because i really need help and i looked up things but it doesn’t help please!!

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 🥲🥲💔

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