- Username
- Rochel
- Date posted
- 2y ago
Stick with it! It will be so worth it! I know exactly what you mean about it taking up brain space. I had very little brain space left when I started therapy š and I didnāt feel safe or comfortable even in my own home š or really anywhere due to contamination fears. Iām doing so much better now and able to tackle lots of things that Iād been avoiding (cleaning and laundry) and do things that I just didnāt have room for in my brain before (knitting and organizing my closet). Iām doing great at home but the āoutside worldā still freaks me out big time. My therapist wants me to go outside in our next session (and ERP means no decontamination when I come back inside š) and Iām SO not ready for that next step š© but I am super pumped to be able to freely do things and touch things in my own home, that has been HUGE for me!
I wanted to add that I do still wash my hands quite a bit, but now Iām not as frantic/anxiety-ridden while I do it, and usually I can just do it once pretty quickly whereas before I would do it over and over for like 10 minutes :( My therapist didnāt specifically work on handwashing with me but I think it just kind of happened as a byproduct? We did ERPs where I would touch something I felt was ācontaminatedā and not wash at all š± and she sat with me until I felt less anxious. Once I wasnāt as afraid of the contamination the handwashing started to diminish a bit on its own.
My hands are so dry from the hand washing. Itās honestly so hard so I understand.
Wow you sound so strong. I would also spend about 10-15 minutes washing my hands. My hands got so bad that my therapist sent me to the dermatologist for it because she was worried that I would get an infection
Good luck for your next exposure
Anyone got contamination ocd recovery stories? I heard this is the hardest form of OCD to overcome from my doctors and I feel honestly discouraged.
Who else on here has contamination OCD it would be awesome to talk to others in the same boat
Hi everyone. I have PANS OCD and had it early as a child around 5. It was debilitating I went though counting, contamination OCD even thinking family members were contaminated, hand washing till my hands were raw and more I had a good childhood but it was heavily OCD based which stinks. I am now 25 and have had manageable OCD throughout the last 10 ish years. Up till late last year I got it back again worse than ever.. I am now worried about asbestos and mold and lead and household things we moved into an older home and itās been awful. I also worry constantly 24/7 about deathā¦ also We donāt have any of those materials In our home but my OCD wonāt leave me alone. I went into treatment didnāt sleep the 4 days I was there and checked myself out, I instantly regretted it and tried going back but they wouldnāt let me back right away unfortunately. I am seeing my therapist once a week and trying to live life as an adult with OCD it never fully went away but it was so manageable and now I need to learn to live with crippling OCD all over again if anyone has any advice or relates to this please comment so we can talk. Thanks Lydia
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond