Does anybody else have an extreme fear of engine oil or any other car chemicals? I have been suffering with contamination OCD for the last 8 or 9 years and feel alone with this kind of OCD towards chemicals.
Yes, you are not alone! Not me specifically, but Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz addresses this in his book titled Brain Lock....Brian, who had an intense fear of contamination from battery acid. Brian would sneak to the scene of car accidents in the middle of the night to apply baking soda, which he felt would "neutralize" the contamination from a possible car battery leak.
Do you have medical or psychotherapy support?
I recently published a book called "Waging War Against OCD - A Christian Approach to Victory." You can see more details at WagingWarAgainstOCD.com - in it I introduce a concept called "Logic Solvers." I talk about a way I found that gives me relief in situations like this - not exactly like this, but it would apply. I could email you a snippet if you'd like - you can just email me from my website and I'll send it over.
@Waging War Against OCD I would love to learn more about this book. I have such a dilemma with my contamination OCD. I have always thought I was being a good Christian by cleaning/ritualizing to make sure I don’t cause harm to anyone (I fear there is harmful poison everywhere and I am “helping” God as I try to protect people.). But am I actually a big sinner by not trusting God enough to beat this nasty disorder!! ?? I’m just so confused. I feel like”selfish” if I try to get well because I feel doing ERP will put others in danger! I’d love to read what you have to say in your book!
@Dutchgirl - Hi! Please email me at wagingwaragainstocd@gmail.com and I'll send you a snippet. I can so relate to your thought processes!
I understand how isolating it can feel to live with a specific fear like having contamination OCD around car chemicals, it's really tough. You're not alone, though; there are many of us out here who face unique OCD themes and feel the same. Keep in mind that OCD has a way of latching onto what matters to us most, it's not about the specifics of the fear 🌼. I actually stumbled onto an AI OCD therapy tool called "unstuck" (Unstuckmyocd.com/try) that I heard about from my OCD support group, and I just wish I had found it sooner. It might be particularly useful for you because it's like having an OCD therapist on hand, giving you personalized, step-by-step support when your OCD gets tough, especially with your unique theme of fear around car chemicals. I'm here if you have any questions about the app, or just feel like chatting a bit more, okay? We've got this 💪.
OCD about driving. I am a 25 year old and am currently having really bad OCD about driving. I often fear that I am going to hit someone with my car or already have and did not realize it. Anything can set me off, such as a bump in the road that I did not explicitly see and point out, driving in an area with a lot of pedestrians, driving at night, driving in residential areas, or driving while a bit tired. This happens all of the time. I often check my rearview mirror for signs of an accident or reactions from drivers. I used to turn around and check a lot, but after reading various articles have stopped doing so and for the purposes or ERP. I have been doing my best with the ERP, but sometimes it is hard to resist the urge to go back and check, especially with those specific instances that I listed above. I just wanted to know if anyone else on here has this kind of OCD and how you deal with it/the best methods for continuing to work with it.
Does anyone here have emotional contamination OCD? It’s a rare subtype that doesn’t really get talked about
A few months ago, I was diagnosed with OCD. I’m not sure what changed, or flipped inside of me, but suddenly everything I was eating became scary. I would spend days not drinking water, or trying to force down at least some crackers and beef broth so I didn’t get sick. I have a fear of anaphylaxis, even with never being exposed to something I’m deathly allergic to. I don’t even have any allergies that I know of that give me hives or any type of reaction. I would feel my throat tightening, and my throat would turn red because I would scratch at it, and I could feel a tightening in my chest even with stuff I’d eaten my whole life. I was/am terrified of high allergy foods (shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, etc) but I’ve recently began to try things again. I can eat almonds again without nearly passing out in a panic. Does this happen to anyone else? I feel like I’m the only one this happens to. It makes me feel completely weird, and it confuses other people.
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