- Username
- nervouswreck
- Date posted
- 6y ago
this is irrational I know it is hard to distinguish between that and rational but it is OCD and you have to stay strong ?
I do this all the time. I found an ant in my room the other day and I had to completely strip everything from my room and vacuum each individual object. Although, I knew it was illogical, I knew I had to do it. I would try exposing yourself to more uncomfortable situations, similar to the one you had today. Distract yourself with a show or music, and after awhile you’ll realize that you’re okay. The germs didn’t harm you, you’re still here! My therapist has been teaching me this. She’ll make me touch the ground with my hand, and once we start talking, the thought kinda fades. It’s still there, but not as bad as when I initially touched the ground.
actually try not distracting yourself and sit with the anxiety. if this is to difficult then resist for as long as you can then end the exposure and set it aside for a day your feeling stronger. Distractions may not always be where you need them so sitting without distractions prepares you for when you get anxious and have no physical way of calling yourself down. just my opinion hope you all feel better(:
Sounds like this is really distressing to you. Keep going though-resist those compulsions ?
I literally don’t know the difference between logical and illogical anymore!
I can totally identify! Loving the ERP related replies.
Would you consider a towel just cleaned but was then laid on by a dog okay to use? This is for those who are much better than i, i wanted some opinions as to if I am being OCD right now because i am about to kill my mother. So what happened is I am staying with my mom right now. She did my laundry without my permission. I am a bit particular with how i like to do my laundry and she has a big habit of doing things i view as unsanitary and then taunting me with my OCD and telling me I’m psycho for telling her shes wrong. This time she washed the towels I use and then let our family dog lay on them while we folded them. Now i love our dog he’s my baby but that doesn’t change the fact that he runs around outside and goes to dog parks were I’m sure he steps in pee the whole time and she only gives him a bath maybe every 4 months. When i got mad and said i cant use them and i need to rewash them she basically told me that if i rewash them i have to leave and then mixed them with all the other towels which makes me feel like i need to wash all of them. So would you be worried about this? Consider it clean or not? Im trying to not go crazy or care but i cant stop imagining all the shit and pee on those towel and how I’m going to get a vaginal infection or pink eye from it when i dry off from a shower. Im pisst and the more i think about it the more i cant sleep and the more wholes i want to punch into the wall and her.
Question about delayed obsessions. Tonight I did my groceries and wiped them all down (contamination ocd) and washed my hands and arms before heading up to shower. As I dried my arms on the hand towel I was feeling really calm. I debated putting the towel in the wash but I was feing confident and said "nah, just deal with it, Cat". Now three hours later I hate that I have been washing and drying my hands with the same towel and touching my phone. I am working really hard to not sanitize my phone. I'm in bed with it now just trying to sit with it. I plan on just sitting with the discomfort. The towel was used on clean hands and fomites are not the major issue with covid 19. Cdc guidelines and no more. My question is, why was I so confident in the moment but three hours later am having the obsessions? It makes me feel like I have to do compulsions even if I think I'm fine because later i will regret not doing it. What's up with that??
I guess this is kind of reassurance seeking, but I'm curious as to what is "normal" for non-contamination ocd people. Do you guys wash your hands after handling things in your house? After literally just stepping out of the shower, I just accidentally touched something I purchased today. Normally I would wash my hands, but my husband discouraged me from doing so because he knew it would start a spiral of still not feeling clean and wanting to wipe things down. So then I had to open my drawers, put on my pajamas, and get into bed/touch our clean bedding. I'm obviously veryyyy uncomfortable. Is this something that would even register as a red flag on anyone's radar? I know some people have taken to wiping groceries down during the pandemic, but that's not the concern in this case.
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