- Date posted
- 6y ago
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Try to resist the urge to wash by increasing the amount of time you try to wash. Maybe resist the urge by a min then increase it. Or if you find yourself washing for 20 mins decrease it to 15
- Date posted
- 6y ago
thank you so much
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Try to accept the thoughts
- Date posted
- 6y ago
thank you. do you know any way I can live my life without always thinking about my hands being clean?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@Ellie to be honest with you the only way is to accept that maybe your hands aren’t clean. I agree with Wes about gradually reducing the compulsion rather than just trying to stop doing it altogether because that is very difficult. The more you engage in the compulsion of washing your hands, the more it will reinforce your obsession that your hands aren’t clean and that your whole day will be ruined if you don’t wash your hands. Also the more you try to argue with the thoughts or try not to think them, ironically, the more they will appear.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
thank you so much but how do i accept the fact that my hands aren’t clean but I have to go through touching more stuff? Like let’s say I leave my hands dirty and then I go and touch something. I’ll feel like I’ll never want to touch that object again because I touched it when my hands were dirty. Any help with this?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
What is the bottom line for your fear of contamination? Fear of being dirty/ hurting a loved one because it’s contaminated/ or making yourself sick?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I do fear of being dirty and I worry that I will just spread germs everywhere. If I touch an object while my hands are dirty, I will be afraid to touch that object again. For example let’s say I get something dirty in my hair, I will feel like I can’t touch my hair again cause it’s dirty and I’ll feel like I’ll have to wash my hands if I touch it.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Ok so with this when you feel like your hands are dirty and have touched something and not wanting to touch that object, you should be forcing yourself to touch the object in a normal way. Then once you have done this task use normal self talk like: you’re fine it’s your ocd. Then wait as long as you can and then wash hands. But increase amount of time not washing and decreas amount of time washing
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Thank you so much. This really helped. I’ll try this
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w ago
I have contamination OCD that causes me to excessively wash my hands/clean items with disinfectant wipes. I know I just need to start with small exposures but how do I do that without spiraling? I tried a while back by just touching the outside of my dishwasher and not washing my hands after and it led to me being unable to even exist in my house. I basically lived on my couch for three weeks as it was the only 'safe' space that I had not touched with my dirty hands. I had to take a week off work to clean my house to make it somewhat liveable. I still haven't got round to cleaning everything though so things like my kitchen are still no-go zones that I don't enter. I just don't know how to start ERP without it making everything worse. Any advice would be appreciated. I am not seeing a therapist at the moment due to financial constraints.
- Date posted
- 19w ago
I feel like there’s no way out of this. everyday i’m anxious and depressed from these thoughts. i feel like i have to constantly question if it’s OCD or not. the panic attacks are insane and i freak out. and a compulsion i have is looking eveything up on the internet when im stressing to know that it’s just my OCD and im not in danger. but looking things up add on to my thoughts and i start thinking “what if” actual suidcal people think. do others with this theme whenever they do something like if im taking a picture it’ll be like “yeah you look happy people will wonder what happened when your gone” LIKE i DO NOT want to end my life. or even as simple as cleaning my room, “yup keep it clean so when your family goes through your stuff” then i panic and can’t even do anything. those thoughts distress me so bad. i’ll sit there and think how good my life is or when im having a good day my thoughts will be like “NOPEEE what if your just saying that to convince yourself” it never shuts up and genuinely makes me think i have SI or something. i hope this reaches the right people just to know im not alone. Even when i do get better in the back of my mind it’s always “people who want to are the same a day before too” im genuinely scared and im scared one day im going to just snap and do it because its “too much” do i need to go to a mental hospital! i feel insane.
- Date posted
- 12w ago
I started dealing with OCD when I became fixated on health issues, particularly the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease. If I experienced any kind of medical symptom, no matter how small, that even remotely hinted at something potentially fatal, it would drive me crazy, and I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Then one day, I started having intrusive thoughts about accidentally hitting someone with my car, and I would end up driving in circles to check if I had. Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of new obsessive thoughts and compulsions. One day, while I was at the park, a squirrel came near me, and for some reason, I felt like it attacked me. I Googled it and learned that squirrels could carry rabies, which spiraled me into a deep fear of rabies. I became consumed with the thought I received a bite from a squirrel, raccoon, or bat any time I’m in areas that trigger me. It started off only being inside then transferred to even being in my own home. This made me obsess over every physical sensation in my body, compulsively checking to make sure nothing was wrong. One compulsion that I hated the most would to be putting rubbing alcohol on me to make sure that I had no open wounds. Every day feels like I’m walking around in a fog of anxiety, constantly worrying that I won’t even make it to old age. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that I just want it all to end. It stresses me so bad at times to where my brain feels like I’ve been studying all day.
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