Enabling compulsions

I have been going over how my ocd will affect a future relationship. The things I struggle with in my OCD is cleaning and contamination. There are times where when I feel at my worst, I have to wash any cooking or eating utensil/dish/pan/pot multiple times. I think the max amount of times I have washed a single bowl alone in one wash is 17 times. That's just a bowl. I also when cleaning use gloves that they use at doctor's offices and/or hospitals. It helps me to feel like I won't need to wash or complete a compulsion(s). So my question is would I be enabling myself or no because I am constantly going over in my head what I should be doing or not being doing and it's always so exhausting.

Contamination OCD

Username: OCDFamilyOCDFamily

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 36w ago

It sounds like you know you have OCD which is a great first step! It would free up your time and energy if you addressed it.

Username: LeslieB3LeslieB3

Date posted: 36w ago

hey there, i can hear how tough things have been for you, especially with the cleaning and contamination aspects of your ocd. having to wash utensils so many times and using gloves to try to manage your compulsions sounds really exhausting and challenging. it's understandable you're worried about how this might impact future relationships and whether certain strategies might be enabling rather than helping. 💔 by the way, have you heard about this new ai-powered ocd therapy tool called 'unstuck?' when i was struggling with similar issues, my nocd therapist recommended it to me, and honestly, it's been a game-changer. it's free (unstuckmyocd.com/try) and i think it'll be especially helpful for you because it provides personalized, step-by-step support for dealing with compulsions like excessive cleaning. the ai acts like an ocd therapist, guiding you through difficult moments. i hate when people promote stuff, but i really think it can help you because it's changed my life. lmk if you have qs or just want to talk more! <3

Username: Lulu_20

Date posted: 2y ago

Hand Washing

Does anyone else struggle with hand washing/contamination OCD? I feel like it’s not talked about enough that OCD although it’s a mental illness it can have a very real physical impact on a person as well. For me, I used to struggle with compulsive hand washing. It wasn’t so much that I would touch something, and need to wash my hands, it was more so I would just sit at the sink and need to do it over and over again until it felt “right”. But I have gotten better with it, and have done a lot of exposure therapy for it, but my hands and arms still suffer from the brutality of it with the harsh soaps and excessive washing. It feels like my hands and arms are always really dry and despite how much I try to moisturize, just from the amount of time I spent doing it my skin was really damaged. Let me know if anyone has struggled in a similar way?

Contamination OCD

Username: anna923

Date posted: 1y ago

Friends and OCD

I have contamination ocd and I’m constantly cleaning and organizing for sometimes hours until it feels “just right” and it’s truly miserable. I asked a friend of mine if cleaning for hours at a time all day is excessive and his reply was “no you’re just a clean person!” It honestly hurt to hear that I guess I was just seeking reassurance and shouldn’t have asked. Does anyone else get that reply a lot? And if so how do you deal with it? It made me feel like my ocd isn’t a problem.

Username: Anonymous

Date posted: 47w ago

I'm stuck

Hi I'm new to this app and just wanted to communicate with someone struggling with simular things. My ocd has me feeling so stuck right now, like I just don't know what to do. It's caused me to stay home from school and quit my job due to panic attacks. I should probably specify I have contamination ocd and some other one idk what to call. Closest thing would probably be perfection ocd. A couple days ago I had a really bad panic attack once I got home from work where I cried and sat on the stairs for about 2 hours. I only got up when my mom forced me to, because everytime I tried I just felt like I couldn't move. It was mainly triggered by my job as I find it "dirty" and cant handle it anymore- I quit mt job that night. Then is also when I finally told my mom how I've been feeling because of it and now she's constantly worrying that I haven't hurt myself as I finally told her "I just want it to stop." I don't think I actually would but I can't help but to think what would happen and how I could go about it. I have a therapist I see monthly, but I find it really hard to tell her how bad it's effecting me because it's hard to talk about and Idk what kind of power she has but I don't want her to send me to the ward. Idk if that's even a thing anymore but I'm scared of it. I constantly feel like I have to clean everything and I just dont have the energy to do it. All I want to do is lay in bed. But these "dirty" things full my mind untill they're "clean" again. Not to mention the things I literally can't clean because of their material 🥲 I apologize for the awful organization, these are just my thoughts right now.

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Enabling compulsions

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