- 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.
Just here to say don’t give up guys! I used to take about an hour in the bathroom washing my hands repeatedly. After a couple of months of frustration, I reduced it down to 30 mins. That was one of the best feelings I ever had. Fast forward to another couple of months (about 4) I reduced it down to 15-20 mins. Today I tackled the problem of washing my hands to less than 5 mins. I’m still waiting for the anxiety to kick in, I don’t know how I’ll handle it. Keep trudging on and let’s all win this battle! :)
Hi Everyone- I’m going to give myself 2 weeks to see if I can make progress battling contamination OCD using the tips and tools from people here. Some that I have found super helpful is sitting with the uncomfortable thoughts and letting them be vs doing the compulsions. I have major contamination issues with the public dirty bathroom feeling like it spread all over me. Any other tips on how to battle those thoughts? If I am unable to reduce 1.5 hour shower time I’m afraid I have to take my meds but I am avoiding it if I can try the “tools” first. I don’t have a therapist yet but my GP gave me my prescription. So if you have contamination tips and tools, please send them my way! For those who already sent your tips in the past, thanks so much! Lark
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 doctor’s 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 don’t take mental health seriously. I ended up having to leave my job “involuntarily due to health reasons” 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 wasn’t 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 “I don’t know. I am concerned. I don’t know how you are going to be able to function” 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, I’m losing time, and it’s 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!
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