- 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
Really struggling with my contamination ocd lately. Itās so hard to sit in fear and discomfort without washing and preforming my compulsions. Is there any one else struggling with this, that has any advice? Thank you!!
Hi everyone. First time here. I suffer from Contamination OCD. I have a good support group in friends, family, and my boyfriend, but I have not met anyone else with OCD and I needed to reach out to others to find help. I first got OCD when I was 17 (I am now 33) and was able to go into remission, but COVID brought it back. I was struggling at work (which was outside with the public). I found a therapist and she wrote me a doctorās note suggesting I be allowed to work from home. My work was not accommodating at all and only offered me FMLA leave, so I took it as my only option and eventually got on Short Term Disability. The whole process took forever and was incredibly stressful. My leave was supposed to be a time of healing and it just made my OCD symptoms worse. My employer basically treated me as though I was trying to get out of work and proved to me that though they talk about the importance of mental health, they donāt take mental health seriously. I ended up having to leave my job āinvoluntarily due to health reasonsā as they would not grant an extension nor let me return with any restrictions/accommodations. My therapist seemed good at first, but it became clear that she wasnāt really helping me. She would often use our sessions to vent about the insurance company and in one session, she basically called me a hopeless case and kept saying āI donāt know. I am concerned. I donāt know how you are going to be able to functionā and threw out the word hospitalization, though she did backtrack on that one. I struggle everyday. I am worried that something from outside of the home touched something clean and is now contaminated. I need help working through this. I am constantly looking for reassurance, question if things are clean, wash my hands, use too many disinfectant wipes, and take showers upwards of 50-60 mins. I feel like my mind is being taken over by my OCD, Iām losing time, and itās straining my relationship. For anyone who is struggling with contamination OCD brought on by COVID - any tips? My therapist never gave me anything specific to work on with this - to help me focus on something else. I am in the process of finding another therapist, but until then - any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Does anyone else struggle with hand washing/contamination OCD? I feel like itās not talked about enough that OCD although itās a mental illness it can have a very real physical impact on a person as well. For me, I used to struggle with compulsive hand washing. It wasnāt so much that I would touch something, and need to wash my hands, it was more so I would just sit at the sink and need to do it over and over again until it felt ārightā. But I have gotten better with it, and have done a lot of exposure therapy for it, but my hands and arms still suffer from the brutality of it with the harsh soaps and excessive washing. It feels like my hands and arms are always really dry and despite how much I try to moisturize, just from the amount of time I spent doing it my skin was really damaged. Let me know if anyone has struggled in a similar way?
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