- Date posted
- 2y
OCD and bathroom
Does anyone fear spreading things to others by using the bathroom? Do you keep needing to wash over and over?
Does anyone fear spreading things to others by using the bathroom? Do you keep needing to wash over and over?
I used to - big time. Yes. ERP helped this a lot.
Did you go through a therapist on here? What's one thing you did that helped most?
My case is too severe for NOCD so they gave me some referrals. But my initial appointments were good and I will use NOCD when I’m back to a better level with my OCD. Hard to say what helped most but I would say having a good hierarchy of fears and a good therapist to encourage and support me during / after exposures. My OCD was much better due to ERP pre-pandemic but the pandemic tp shortage, trying to get my son to do homework after he had remote learning all day and other stressors related to the pandemic and life / family and trying new meds that made me worse have set me back. But I’m not in the horrible state I was in before extensive ERP treatment. And I can pee in public restrooms on a mostly non OCD way without fear of harming others - so that part of the treatment has lasted. My issues are more around self contamination with other restroom trips. Sorry it this is TMI - my ramblings probably mean I need to get some sleep.
Oh ok, how do you know when something is so severe and do they give referrals for in person therapy? That's ok since talking about it helps esp when someone is going through same or similar things. What mainly causes you to fear contaminating others? Sorry you went through all of that. During the pandemic a lot of people were affected. It wasn't easy to find a therapist even. If you ever want to talk let me know we can exchange emails or something .
@Greenery99 Thank you for your kind offer. An ERP therapist uses a number of factors to determine severity and what level of treatment is needed. They have a referral list for higher levels of care (which are in person). I was afraid people would get sick if I contaminated them from restroom or my germs - ERP resolved that part of my fears.
Yes it’s my number one fear. I don’t touch anything in the bathroom. Not even the toilet. I have to put toilet paper down on the seat before I use it, and if the tp slips off and I sit on the toilet, I get in the shower and scrub my whole body because it feels so DISGUSTING. I also wash my hands up to 15 minutes sometimes. Because of this, I waste a lot of money, toilet paper, and soap. so fun right!! lmao
@ocdtingz ERP can help for this. I used to clog toilets bc I used so much to to wipe the seat and then I’d still put a protector and/ or to on the seat. Now it’s a pretty quick seat look and wipe. So much less stressful than it was before treatment.
@Erin P omg i’m glad i’m not the only one who messes up the bathroom because of my ocd lmfao.
@ocdtingz You are so not alone in this. But I am glad I did enough ERP that this part of my OCD is in the past. It would help you too.
If you don't mind me asking is there a particular fear of it you have like contracting or spreading something? I totally understand you. It takes up so much time. It's exhausting! Have you ever tried Erp therapy?
sorry if im putting to much detail in here I can take it down if it is too much and makes people uncomfy. Last night was watching some ex*pl*cit content while lying on the rug in the room in my house I spend most of my time and where my family usually goes into and it caused a physical reaction. I went to the bathroom to clean up and then sprayed the shower done and put bleach on the floor but I wiped the floor with a towel to kinda clean it but idk if I put enough bleach to clean it and if I got it in the areas that mattered and I sprayed Lysol on the bathroom counter to make sure no germs of my earlier reaction got any where but I ran out of Lysol after spraying everything but I made sure to spray the rug with some Lysol before I ran out but idk if I got everything I mean I focused on the rug but I didn’t spray all of it and I didn’t spray all the stuff that was in the room. And to make things worse after my reaction earlier I put my devices and charger on the floor of my room before washing my hands or my devices so I had to clean the floor in my room I used bleach but I didn’t put it everywhere on the floor which makes me anxious and idk if I cleaned my devices or charger well enough and I’m scared they are still infected. But back to the rug i sprayed it down with odoban it says disinfectant on it but I think it’s only for hard surfaces it disinfects but I still sprayed it around on the rug but I don’t know if it actually disinfected anything. And of course to make matters worse my baby cousins toys were in the room so I sprayed them with what little Lysol I had left but idk if I cleaned it well enough but I already put them with their other toys so idk what to do. After I thought I cleaned everything I put my devices on my mattress I don’t have my blankets on my mattress yet cause I washed them like a week or 2 ago and they are just laying on my bed but not put on my mattress so I’m scared my mattress if infected since I’m laying on my mattress with my feet on my chair and my devices are on my mattress. And idk I don’t want people getting those bad germs in them and I,worry about this a lot and Ik a lot of people will say that it isn’t that huge of a deal and I want to,believe them and it helps but my mind is always telling me that even if that’s true I have a responsibility to make sure everything is clean so people don’t get hurt and it doesn’t help that I’ve been so,itchy and idk why and my little brother is also itchy idk if it’s because I don’t clean well enough and it’s my germs or not but I’m tired do I need,to clean my mattress and covers again and reclean the rug I think I do but I’m trying to go against that thinking but it’s hard because I feel like a bad persons. And today I’m scared to leave my room i feel like I’m filthy and that the rug in the other room is contaminated and it doesn’t help I need to go to the doctor today when I’m feeling like anyone I’m around im infecting
Hi everyone, I’ve been spending more and more time at the gym and with that means I’ve been spending more time disinfecting and washing my hands. There are certain numbers I try to “hit” when carrying out tasks like the number 4. When washing my hands I will pump the soap 4 times. But then I think about how the running water + paper towel used adds on +2 pts and so I end up at 6 but I don’t like the number 6. So to combat this I will do 4 steps of 4 actions because I don’t like numbers in relation to 3,6, or 9 ( bc of course washing, rinsing, drying 3 times would not be adequate in my mind). But I’ve gotten to the point where I’ll mess up a sequence of what I’m doing and then try to combat the compulsion I feel in the moment and try to forget the number of actions I’ve just carried out. In my mind doing something “♾️” times is better than knowing I for sure didn’t do enough. (In cases like these I equate ♾️ to an undefined/ unknown #). It’s gotten to the point where I feel like I’m wasting so many resources and a lot of my time too but I still struggle to stop until I feel like everything is fine again. I spray my sanitizer spray 4 times on a paper towel and tell myself that 4 sprays + 1 paper towel is okay because at least 4x1 =4 and 4+1 =5 but it really just drives me mad but because 4-1 =3 I have to combat that with wiping an adequate amount of times.
Tw: piss Is it just me or do other people have this? I first of all have a pretty small bladder so I already have to go more often. I also over hydrate because I cannot stand chapped lips/dry throat. But it's starting to be a really problem because I will go and then when I'm done I will suddenly think "what if I didn't get all of it out?" And then it will SERIOUSLY feel like I have to piss again. This happens ALL THE TIME I go like at least once an hour. Even if I just get the slightest feeling I have to piss I go immediately because I'm so paranoid I'm gonna piss myself. And I cannot stand the feeling of having to go even for a little bit. I'm starting to think maybe I'm manifesting the feeling of having to go. But that's crazy because it feels so real.
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