- Date posted
- 2y
Struggling...
Hello again, folks. I hope you're having a happy New Year so far! I'm still stuck in a loop and I am afraid to break it. My anxiety theme is being the one to contaminate things and spread germs/bacteria, especially from the bathroom. It's probably rooted in responsibility/moral scrupulosity. (Heck I even feel guilty posting here because I haven't been diagnosed and am just ASSUMING that I'm falling into this particular mental illness hole. I also want to help others but I don't know how...) (Possible TMI ahead. Tagging as a TW to be safe) I do not know how I am going to ever get out of this, because doing "exposures" such as not wiping down the soap pump or taps if any dirty part of my hands touches it before someone else can use it, or if my shirt brushes waste areas and I don't change it, or not washing if my arm touches the inside of my leg where the "dirtier" part of my underwear touch when I dress/undress for the washroom visits... well, to me that seems like deliberately spreading germs to others when I have no right to do that. I understand that the world isn't completely sanitary. I realize that human bodies aren't ever sterile. The issue I am having is that my AWARENESS of the things that I do feels like I would be doing harm/making things even more unclean/potentially dangerous for other people. I cannot take that guilt. YES, the risk of illness is small. YES there are some VERY unhygenic folks out there. YES there are always bacteria, and few of them are actually pathogenic. NO, this is not a worry most people have. HOWEVER.... I cannot tell what is excessive washing anymore. It all seems "logical" and "appropriate" to me, and if I try not to do it, it feels like I am only not doing it because I'm just selfish or irresponsible. Or doing harm on purpose just for the sake of my own convenience. Sure, some of my "old" habits could legitimately undergo improvement, but I just... want this out of my head. I want to go back on autopilot and not overthink something so simple and mundane as a trip to the washroom. Or even a shower. I don't want to have anxiety if I feel the urge to void. How is it that getting clean can involve so much getting dirty?