Hi there! Has any of u here struggle this kind of OCD?I always suffer after using bleaches or household cleaners thinking I have left some amount on surfaces after cleaning. How to deal with this?
I have this as well!! I feel like if I’m around grease or touch it, I can’t get clean enough in the shower or washing my hands/self. I am following this thread to see for myself as well. I have hope for us!
Omg why are we like this?.haha. how do you cope with it?.
@jellycakes I have to take a step back and breathe deeply. I’m still struggling so I’m sorry I don’t have the greatest advice lol
I have had this, my sister had a white dress which was washed with a bleach thing to get a stain out and it was hung up after being washed and dried but kind of still smelt like bleach and i walked passed it my arm brushed against it slightly and i was convinced there was somehow bleach all over my hands and had to wash my hands like a million times. It’s all very irritating
Very irritating😵💫
I also thought that. But a while ago I really tried my best not to ruminate whenever I handle bleach. I always have these thoughts that what if at the time that im doing laundry or just disinfecting stuffs, the water with bleach will splash on me or to my other family members. Poisoning then passes in my brain then I get anxious. But you know, i really try hard to accept uncertainty. We dont know everything for sure always. I learned that in order to live life, we must risk.
I have had. ERP helps!!
Hi! What exposures are you doing?
@jellycakes I had a lot of items in my home that I avoided so I began with touching them without washing my hands, step by step. I was afraid of battery acid, cleaning products, chemicals for the car and so on. I learned to gradually use them in a normal way, without extra precautions. I am not happy with all if them, I still have some fears but I have come a long way.
@Estrid So basically if u touch something poisonous such as chemicals, you dont wash your hands? Im always afraid like if I have chemicals in my hands , i can get someone sick or poisoned.
@jellycakes This is best done with the help of a ERP therapist. When we have OCD we exaggerate everything and think that we have poison on our hands but we actually haven't. I have had exactly the same fears. When it comes to poisons its always about the dose and how much. In my head a small drop of dish soap was a BIG risk...
@Estrid Whenever you handle chemicals , such as bleach or household cleaners, do you wash your hands right away? I cant afford to have an erp therapist so I just asked you. Im so sorrry. Hoping that ypu might share what you have learn. :)
@jellycakes It takes 26 seconds for a product to absorb into your skin. I wouldn’t let cleaning chemicals sit on your skin because that affects your overall health becaise they are toxic. But for example, touching a dish sponge or a door knob in your house will be okay, you won’t have to wash your hands immediately bc bacteria enters into the body by mouth, nose and eyes. As long as you don’t shove your hand in any of those places, you should be fine. This is something I am working on. But I do not recommend letting any cleaning chemicals sit on your skin for the purpose of erp therapy. That’s not a good idea
@Anonymous Well, it's a good idea with small drops of chemicals if you have bad OCD. The risk of living in the hell pit of OCD is a bigger risk of wasting your life than if you handle small amounts of cleankng chemicals. We have to fight for freedom. With OCD we have lost the healthy perspective.
@jellycakes If you dont have a therapist I think you should ask a trusted relative or friend to show you how they do and have them like role models. When I clean I don't wash my hands right away, but I use a cloth and wipe things. I dont put my hands into bleach, it would be a silly thing to do. But if one small drop fall on for example my trousers its ok for me to move on. I had a hard time to buy groceries before, because I always looked for spots everywhere, maybe chemicals!? After ERP these spots helped me to accept that chemicals can be everwhere, I have no control. And tiny residues doesn't matter, and even if it shpuld matter on some level, we can't live that way, if we should we have to live in isolation without connection to other people.
@Estrid Is it okay if bleach is mixed with water?like for example your doing laundry then there are times Im afraid i already contaminated some stuffs.
@jellycakes All that "I am afraid" and "what if's" is typical OCD.
Actually, I will tell you both that these kind of obsession is really simple (not easy) to create exposures for. The brain can see what you are doing and "okay, she touched that without washing afterwards, maybe it isn't that dangerous" I did exposures everyday and it was mind blowing how I could do things I was so afraid of earlier on.
@Estrid Do you have any tips on dealing with the anxiety that comes with exposures?
@Abbie<3 It needs practice but it's about anticipate it and accept. It helps me to think of the anxiety as a wave flooding over me, I surrender and let the anxiety be there, I don't try to push back. I also remind myself that I have OCD and that my alarm system is overreacting. I try to "be in my body" and notice what happens, "ok, now I feel nausea", "now I am dry in my mouth". In the beginning I thought I should "sit with the discomfort" just passively sit. Now I know that I can continue with daily living while having the anxiety and thoughts, I show my brain that the anxiety isn't that important.
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