How do you deal with ocd and laundry. Sometimes I forget I put laundry detergent in. I fight my ocd and put the clothes in the dryer but then I freak out briefly that I didn’t put detergent in and ruined the dryer. I wish I could have a camera to record me putting detergent in. Also, does anyone battle washing something potentially contaminated with other clothing. What do you tell yourself to get over these irrational thoughts
Doing laundry right now and have thought about contaminating other clothes. What I usually end up doing is running one wash for dirtier items and one for cleaner items. I am trying to just throw everything in an distract myself while I wait for it all to be done. I try to trust the machines that they are doing a good job and that they were specifically designed to get rid of contamination in clothing.
I mean it might help but know that A. Detergent in the drying machine does nothing to clean your clothes because it needs water. Soap traps dirt, is water soluble and is washed away. Putting it in the dryer means ruining the dryer and the dirt and now soap is cake on and dried in. B. Just because you did or didn’t add detergent doesn’t mean your clothes aren’t clean. Unless they’re actively soiled with some material it’s just sweat and maybe a spot or stain or two from a meal you ate. Both will be completely washed away by a normal wash cycle, detergent or not. 3. Get yourself one of these https://a.co/d/2XvbXJv which is normally for dishwashers but put it next to the start of your washing machine and switch it to clean after you add the detergent and switch is back when you take them out. Just don’t get fixated on that, just to help with memory. Good luck.
Just put my clothes in the dryer and my mind said "You need to put extra cups of laundry detergent in the dryer because it'd make you uncomfortable. Do it as an exposure." I tried to tell myself that I didn't need to do that, that I'm allowed to wash my clothes normally, but now I can't stop thinking about what if I followed through with my initial, intrusive thought. This is awful. What would ERP say to do?
I'm stuck in an OCD cycle and having a hard time trying to figure out how to treat it with ERP. Basically what happens when I go to the bathroom, shower, walk past the kitchen sink, my mind goes "You've just ran over to the soap/shampoo bottle, and pumped soap on yourself for no reason." I think that's a weird thought, where did that come from. Next, I'll sometimes re-rinse my hands, body, etc. to make sure I haven't just ran and pumped soap on me for no reason. For ERP I get confused if I'm just supposed to let the thought "you've just ran over to the soap/shampoo bottle and pumped soap on yourself for no reason" be there and not react with compulsions. Or if I need to pump soap on me and not rinse it off, making pumping soap on me the new norm? I don't know, it's confusing to me.
Does anyone have any tricks or things they say to themselves to stop them going back to check something (in my case the oven, plugs, anything that can start a fire, plants that could leak water (!) Lamps etc) it's just so difficult to jot check multiple times when j can't trust my own brain!!! I stand at the door trying to resist, and it's like ocd just makes me check?!
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