- Username
- Lark G.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
For me I feel fine during the day, but I can’t touch anything after showering. You just have to slowly adjust to touching items that seem partially clean and work your way up. Don’t wash your hands for long periods of time and limit your showers. Set a timer up outside and reduce the time you take in intervals. Force yourself to get out or have someone else help you. Try tackling things that make you very uncomfortable then the smaller ones won’t seem as bad. \(^ω^)/
Hi master. I’m Actually very similar to you. During the day I feel contaminated anyway so it’s not bothersome but by evening is when I’m hyper clean and shower long and over wash.
I have but somedays are much harder than others! I try to look st people Who don’t have contamination OCD and dictate when they wash their hands vs don’t. Some really should wash more haha but for example, home is kind of a safe space for me so I don’t wash my Hands constantly work to actively only washing following using the bathroom and that’s it. Occasionally before eating food but I try really hard to limit it to one thing. Then I expanded to other places and challenges. Still a working progress for sure but it does get better just takes small and consistent steps
Lark, do you have any tips on how to overcome the contamination at the end of the day?
Master so far no. This is my struggle right now. At the end of the day I shower and wipe all things I consider contaminated and it takes 2 hours. Hang in there.
i have really bad contamination ocd and i can honestly get through my days without panic attacks but it always requires that i have hand sanitizer, wet wipes and access to wash my hands and be able to shower afterwards. i’m feeling like there’s no hope because i can get through the days okay and i try not to let other people know about it because i deal with it all privately but i’m afraid i’ll never be able to stop with all of the cleaning throughout the day. does anyone have tips to stop cleaning their hands or anywhere that may have gotten “dirty” or anything like that? thank you (:
Does anyone else struggle with hand washing/contamination OCD? I feel like it’s not talked about enough that OCD although it’s 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 wasn’t 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 “right”. 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?
I take really long showers that cause so much stress cause i get obsessed to make sure every part of me is covered in soap and then repeat the process on certain parts/have to reapply the area if i touch the curtain. And i worry about what wil happen and that the house will be filhly and germ ridden if i miss a part or touch the curtain. I shower as soon as i get home and wait on the porch cause i dread the shower. Any advice on how to not be so obsessed or get over being so concerned about it? I want to shower and get clean, but cant bring myself to shorten the shower/go over the top. I dont like anytning in thr house that isnt sealed before hand and i can open it and drop it so no on3 else has touched it. It is causing alot of trouble for me. Thank you.
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