- Date posted
- 2y
Contamination OCD
I'm hating my life and the fact that I'm always unconfortable in my parents' house. I hate the fact that I am not normal like anybody else. I just want to live in peace.
I'm hating my life and the fact that I'm always unconfortable in my parents' house. I hate the fact that I am not normal like anybody else. I just want to live in peace.
Get you, you are not alone with tjis experience, I feel the same in my own home, its hard. Dont give up, search for therapy, you are normal but your amygdala is a bit hyperactive. With ERP it can learn to calm down.
Thank you. I'm living with my parents. I really want to leave the house but I can't currently. I'm also afraid that if I leave, I can't return even to see themš¢ my whole anxiety is toward this house. I have a contamination OCD + an emotional contamination that makes is too hard to support
Iām so sorry to hear youāre feeling this way. Itās so hard to live with OCD, and I resonate with what youāre saying about wanting to live in peace. With ERP, the idea is to take it step by step. If touching something that you fear is contaminated gives you a panic attack, you would probably start with something that is less distressing on a scale of 1-10. Eventually you can work your way up to higher exposures. I second Jeffreyās encouragement, it really is so helpful to have a therapist to guide you through the process. It takes time, and unfortunately itās not an overnight fix. But when we decide to go through with it, and stick with it, it really can make a huge difference. The most amazing part for me has been feeling like myself for the first time, and not letting OCD control me. Know that that hope exists for you, too. The hard work really pays off. I hope you feel the support you have in this community and know that we are right here alongside you even when it is hard!
Thank you so much
I have many contamination issues at my parentās house and my own as wellā¦.I hate it. Everyday is overwhelming. I am working through ERP but am really struggling with really difficult tasks. It is so frustrating when your home is supposed to be a sanctuary. I hope you find peace.
Thank you so much
i totally relate to this and am working on the same thing but you got this!! we all believe in you :) baby steps!
It's heartwarming to hear that. Thank you
Ocd is a difficult disorder. As you know it attacks what means the most to us. Have you had ERP treatment ?
Yes, it hurts so much. The problem is that I can't even hug people that I love and I can't live with them normally either. I didn't do ERP therapy but I tried in the beginning to do it. Touching contaminated things give me strong panic attacks
@Rayma15 I am so sorry this is invading your life. If you have the opportunity to work with an ocd trained therapist they would be able to help you with all of these fears. I will say this - OCD is lying to you. It is sending false alarms to your brain saying there is danger when in reality there is likely no danger at all. Ocd looks for 100% certainty that nothing bad will happen - and that is not only unrealistic it is impossible. If you are unable to get therapy you could go to you tube where there are lots if helpful videos.
@Jeffrey Thank you. I want to enjoy life and love, be happy but I can't no one will support me as I'm dealing with this disease. I feel like I'm causing pain to people I love but it's really not me
I just found out today that a family friend will be staying over at my house (I live with my parents) for a night. And I have contamination ocd and thatās causing me anxiety. I fear that her being here will contaminate my home, which is like my safe place. Itās hard just sitting with the anxiety. I want this day to be over! Does anyone have anything to support me? Thanks
This is ruining every part of my life. The carpet on my staircase is old and pretty dirty, and there's dried mud on it. There's brown bits, which I'm convinced is cat poop and there's a good chance it could be because there have been multiple times my cat has had it stuck to her after going in the litter tray. It's impossible to clean so I don't try, and my parents don't probably because they don't see it's dirty and because it's such an old worn out thing anyway. So I wear slippers everywhere except my bedroom. Only, the other day I stepped somewhere contaminated in socks and then put my slippers back on, so now they're contaminated on the inside which defeats the whole point. So now, if I want to get into bed, I have to take my slippers off outside my door, and my socks, and I have to put new socks on, but if I do that I have to wash my hands again. Which means going to the bathroom. Which means putting the slippers on. Which means I'm contaminated again. I feel so sick and I want to cry. There are so many not hygienic things in my house, and it makes living with this so much harder. I tell myself that what I'm going through are compulsions and intrusive thoughts and obsessions but how can that be true if there's a very real chance the brown on my staircase is cat poop? How can it be true when it's my own fault because I'm too lazy to clean it and I'm too lazy to try fixing the issue when there are so many things stopping me and there are so many things not hygienic about the house. I want to cry, it's too much. I can't tell myself I'm being irrational when I'm being rational. I just can't keep doing this. I want to lay in bed until I feel better but I never feel better. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow about my ocd symptoms and thoughts but what am I meant to say? My house is a state and covered in mud on the carpet, and it sends me into multiple mental breakdowns a week? A day? Surely that's not ocd but instead is perfectly rational? I can't cope with any of this anymore, I want so badly to live in hygiene and cleanliness. It doesn't matter how hard I try, I'm never clean. I will never be clean. And I keep trying to tell myself that even if it's cat poop, it's not the end of the world. But I feel so ashamed. I feel dirty. I just want all of this to stop being so difficult.
(long read ahead, sorry lol) Iāve struggled with ocd for as far back as I can remember. I find that it gets worse with stress, and recently Iāve really been struggling with the contamination aspect of my ocd. Iām worried about it becoming unmanageable and negatively affecting my relationship with my partner. Iāve been living with my boyfriend since January (got kicked out of my house a week after I turned 18, itās for the better though my house is toxic as hell) and I love living with him, but him and his family arenāt as concerned with cleaning as I am used to. My boyfriend and I have been together going on 2 years and thereās been many times throughout our relationship that his struggle with depression severely impacted his ability to keep up with cleaning his room. This is something I completely understand because Iāve struggled with it too so iāve often helped him clean, and since iāve moved in heās done so much better at keeping up with cleaning (especially because he knows about my issues with clutter, mess, germs, etc.) He is really good at being accommodating towards my needs (not overly so, iām aware that recovering includes accepting being uncomfortable), but itās so hard for me to differentiate between what is the normal standard for cleanliness and hygiene and whatās excessive and unhealthy. I get so stressed out every single day over the thought of how dirty everything is. He has 3 cats that mainly stay in his room (he has a catio attached to his window/side of the house) and dogs which stay on the opposite side of the house and backyard, so there is fur everywhere constantly (iām also allergic to cats but itās not severe). I canāt stop thinking about how they are getting germs from their litter box all over everything. They also used to piss under his bed and in his closet when his room used to be a mess and itās soaked into the floor so no matter what it stinks. Itās so hard to bring myself to walk around the house without slippers because my feet will get visibly dirty and my socks would get covered in hair. I always think about how my boyfriend sometimes walks on the rugs in the bathroom in shoes and all the germs that spreads. Thereās so many more things but this is already getting long and I am shaking just thinking about how unclean everything is. I want to deep clean the entire house myself so I can get it to where Itās not like psychological torture everyday and itās easier to maintain but I have been so busy I donāt have the time. I am worried about my boyfriend thinking I donāt like living with him or that I think thatās heās dirty but i donāt. We have had several conversations about this and heās reassured me that he knows none of my obsessive thoughts are personal but I still feel so bad about it. I would like to get therapy to help work through this but currently that is not an option for me. I know things will get better once I get through the main things in my life that are causing a lot of stress and therefore making my ocd flair up, but I need advice on what to do in the mean time. I keep having moments where all I can do is shake and cry and clean and I feel bad for my poor boyfriend who can only sit next to me and try to comfort me or help me clean. I also donāt want to make him worried that nothing he does is enough for me (iāve also already talked to him about this and told him about how I can never even be clean enough for myself and that I donāt think heās dirty). Thereās been many times where I want to tell him to do things that I think might be my own unhealthy compulsions (ex. not wearing shoes in the house or in our room, not getting into bed with socks on, making sure to completely dry off before getting out the shower, put makeup and jewelry back where they belong right after using them, etc.) but i canāt tell if theyāre reasonable or not and i try to not tell him unless itās something that severely distresses me. Iām aware that everything is going to have germs no matter what and have been using NERās to help manage my thought spirals/rumination. I know that I shouldnāt keep doing compulsions because it just offers temporary relief and makes the problem worse because nothing will ever be enough. I just feeling so overwhelmed and hopeless and exhausted and want some feedback.
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