Anxious of contamination and the thoughts

Yesterday i tried to come out a little bit of my comfort zone and went for a wedding with a friend. My friend went to the bathroom first and i feel like she might have touched something contaminated then we went in the same car. Now i am anxious over all the thoughts bcz i feel she might have touched my dress but i am not sure. She grabbed a sweater which was just beside me so i am anxious she might have touched my clothes but i cannot even wash it as this is a long maxi dress with a big flare. I just rubbed it with wet hands. But if i am not 100% sure then why these thoughts are disturbing me. When i came back home and changed i feel like everything else is also contaminated. She touched plates and food and everything thing else there which made me more anxious and i was just trying to get a plate from the middle and obviously i was looking weird for doing such things. Then one lady told me to pass her a bowl of meat which my friend has already touched so i didnt want to be rude due to which i couldnt say no but i touched it from a side and passed her. It was a terrible experience and now i am thinking to wash the whole earth and everything in it bcz then i came home and touched everything. This is not possible and i dont even remember which things are contaminated so i am just sitting anxious with these thoughts and cant do anything. I really dont want to throw my maxi which i just wore once and is really expensive but i am unable to wear it ever bcz i feel it is really contaminated and will contaminate everything else. What should i do now???

Contamination OCD

XPaulina

Date posted: 1y

My dear Anaa, I just saw this post of yours. I'm truly so sorry to read this about the bad time you passed through. As I'm not really good in this app, I missed your post. I'm sorry, you are always there for me when I post something. You can't imagine how much I relate to your thoughts and feelings. It's exactly the same for me. I'm so scared to touch things that I feel or think they might be or are contaminated. And the. I fear so much to touch the things I feel or I know they are not "Contaminated" even if I'm aware on how strange that sounds still a part of my mind believes it. Now talking back about your experience, first, thank you so much for being so open and sharing here. I have also posted some stuff and no one has written or answer, I think many people is struggling now as the holidays are coming closer and that makes many people sad. About your experience, I think you did very good. Even though you were feeling very anxious and stressed, still you did everything, you manage to do all. For me it's the same. It seems it's never good enough, unless I'm alone with my daughter in the only environment I feel I have control over. But it's truth, it's very important to go out from the comfort zone, as you did whenever you decided to go to the marriage. It's normal to feel like that. I also understand you might have forgotten all the things that were contaminated. It happens to me too. I get too much worries and then I forget them, it's okay. Forget them, don't try to get them back. Pretend you forget them also. It helps. About your dress, I understand it's overwhelming to think it might be dirty or contaminated. What type of germs or contamination do you think it might have? More like bacterias and viruses coming from the bathroom? If it's the case, I think just to put the dress in a safe place where you feel comfortable to have it for some time. Maybe if you don't live somewhere where it's cold and snowing, to let it air dry and get some sunlight (nothing survives the UV light) it can alleviate your worries. Otherwise you can either take it to a professional and reputable dry cleaning place, where they can clean it properly, if that makes you more anxious because other people will touch it. Then I think to let it get some fresh air and sunlight will help. As well you can buy some Lysol and spray it a little, in the parts where you suspected it was touched and contaminated. I feel so much like you on a daily basis, but I try my best to challenge myself. Its okay to try to clean it, but it's also okay to leave it like that and see that nothing will happen, you won't get ill or die. What are your fears about the contaminated stuff, my dear? I fear to get ill and not to get proper medical attention and die. You will be alright, you don't need to get rid of your dress, that I would really like to see your dress. I love dresses 👗 😍. You can just maybe try to do as I suggested you, if you think it might help you and if it feels okay for you to do. I sent you a hug and all the vest wishes for you Anaa✨️💛💓

anaa

Date posted: 1y

Thank you so much dear for your kind advice. I will definitely get some lysol. Your positive words always gives me motivation not to give up. Thank you for being here for me in time when i really need something positive to hear. I also want to be here for everyone who suffer from ocd and say some positive things but sometimes i am too overwhelmed by my thoughts that i just keep posting stuff that made me depressed. My fear about contamination is not closely related to illness but the thoughts that my stuff is contaminated just make me so anxious and effects everything i do bcz i continuously think about it. I feel like if one thing is contaminated, it will contaminate everything else so i end up washing it bcz washing everything else is then difficult. And it also disturbs me when i am praying. I feel like i am not clean enough to pray. I don't know why but my ocd is just triggered when someone near to me touches something i feel is contaminated and then i end up avoiding touching people. I keep myself away from people not to get contaminated. I also like to be in an environment where i have control and can avoid contamination but definitely going out means there will be other people you might come in contact with or may be some form of contamination which is really hard to deal with. I will try my best to act on your suggestions. And thanks alot for the hug and best wishes. Same for you too. Means alot for me 🤗🥰❤️

oneday.x

Date posted: 23w

Worried about bathroom contamination

Sorry if this is tmi. In advance, I know some germs are fine - I'm all for that, and it definitely does ease some contamination anxiety. But I have lots of anxiety surrounding going to the bathroom, specifically number two. Again I'm so sorry if this is tmi. I went yesterday, and obviously my hands were contaminated because well, they are when you go to the bathroom. But also because I accidentally brushed the back of my hand against myself. When you're done in the bathroom you obviously put underwear back on, and trousers or whatever, but I wash my hands before touching my trousers but not underwear. So I do that bit before I wash my hands, but my hand, the very contaminated part, touched like a bit of my skin at my waist. At the time, I brushed it off, thinking that my trousers will cover that anyway for the time being. But then today, I wore leggings that are kind of small on me and they weren't as high waisted. And then I got in my bed, and had a t-shirt on, and probably touched so many things. I changed my t-shirt, meaning it touched my hair as I took it off. So now I'm paranoid I have poop particles all over me. I'm convinced I need to have a full shower again and wash my hair. I'm okay with having a shower, but I barely have enough energy for that let alone washing my hair too. I don't shower every day, so with my schedule, I'm not due to have one until tonight. I just want to be able to get up, get dressed, and go about my day. But how do I do that when my bed feels contaminated and I feel like I need to change the bedsheets. How do I cope when it feels like poop particles are in my HAIR. And that could totally be possible. I know some germs are fine. But I just don't know what to do.

bun <3

Date posted: 15w

everything around me feels contaminated :((

sorry this is super long i just wanna know if anyone else has been thru something similar bc i feel super alone 🩷 i have super bad contamination ocd. it was bad already but my house was like my safe space until a few months ago someone brought something into my house that i considered ‘contaminated’. and so then i felt like that part of the house was contaminated, then it spread to everything outside my room (since family is moving around touching stuff) and then somehow i got convinced everything in my room except my bed is contaminated and i need to wash my hands after touching it. in my mind its like the contamination just infinitely spreads to things after the tiniest bit of touch. idek what im afraid of anymore or even what the original thing was but i can’t let it go. when i have to wash off contamination i have to wash at least 4 times or until it feels right, or sometimes take rlly long showers and wipe down all my stuff. i even throw away food and clothes or just whole items sometimes because they feel so contaminated i don’t want them in my space. i can’t be super near people or have anyone touch me, and i also can’t bring anything new into my room since it had to go through the entry of my house which feels contaminated. i feel like all i do is lay in bed and then wash my hands and do compulsions so i can go eat or do other stuff around the house. also i never go out because i’m bc people outside make me feel dirty, and i hate thinking about how many people have touched stuff in stores or in public and stuff. so im just in my room worrying all day. i feel so trapped and the contamination/avoiding it is all i think about anymore i barely have time for anything else and im never present when i talk to people because im worrying about if i accidentally got contaminated. im starting erp next week and knowing that im going to have to expose myself to things is really freaking me out. does anyone else have this kind of ocd ? im exhaustedddd 🥲🥲💔

Contamination OCD

ynnej

Date posted: 14w

Any advice please??

This is a repost, only because the last post had no responses lol. Please if you have any advice share. I’ve been trying hard to sit with the feeling of anxiety. Actually that’s the problem, recently I’ve been trying to sit with the thought (and I’m able to for a few hours or until the next morning) and then my anxiety comes back so strong and it’s like I need to clean everything off. I see images of gross laundry getting on everything or my hand and then I need to clean everything off to un contaminate it. Sometimes the thought happens later at night so I just sleep through and the next morning I will wake up with intense anxiety about contamination. That happened yesterday and I had to clean everything off and since then I’ve been traumatized so I’ve been doing compulsions like avoiding the bathroom and being around people so I know I couldn’t have done anything wrong. Actually recently my biggest compulsion has been recording every time I get up to go eat, etc so that I know I couldn’t have done anything. Any advice or help???

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