Hey everyone so one thing I was wondering is what people do with items they think are contaminated. I know I will never use the item again but I don’t wanna throw it away. I’m unsure of what to do?? :(
I have an almost brand new pair of shoes that have been sitting by my door for months because I convinced myself I stepped in something I won’t mention…but I’m too afraid to wear them and too ashamed to throw them away so they just sit there… -_- I’m hoping one day to be strong enough to wear them maybe. So I guess in way I just leave them as there as a goal or something to one day be able to deal with them. Idk…maybe you could keep those items in a box and work toward being able to use them again one day.
My house is slowly closing in around me with the things that are contaminated, abd which I decide "I'll just set that here for now and clean it (or address it) later." Ugh, this just makes me realize what a long road I have ahead of me. Only just begun recently and just feeling overwhelmed.
@Equanimity bound Exactly same
Use the item for self ERP.
If you can't resist not throwing them away, just wipe them up or wash and use them. Can I ask what things they contaminated that you threw them away?
I was offering a response to let the person that wrote the post know that their not alone. Are you familiar with ocd? From your post I'm not sure you understand what ocd is like for people. It can't be trivialized as simply as that, and we are here because we are taking steps to try and begin taking our lives back. If it was simple we wouldn't be writing comments here about the frustrating, embarrassing, debilitating, anxiety ridden worlds we live in.
@Anonymous here. I’m afraid of anything made with PVC. I realized that the ponytails were in a PVC bag.
@astamer I see. I know that this kind of fear can’t be suddenly let go of, but you can work on your OCD and, step by step, release yourself from any rules made by OCD.
I'm sorry. I thought you had responded to a comment I had above. I felt defensive, but now I realize you weren't replying to me. I'm sorry for that.
@Equanimity bound No problem. I have contamination OCD. I know it's not easy to stop doing something. I sent that sad sticker because I read your other posts that I answered. I sent the sticker to show that I understand your feelings.
@Equanimity bound Yes, I mostly reply with comments to shows which person I respond to. Maybe this time I forgot and confused you. 🙂
@Anonymous here. Thank you for your responses. It was my mistake, both in not realizing the comment was for the author, and it was my fault for being defensive. I appreciate your understanding. I still need to do some meditating. It's been on my mind that I need to do that, but I just feel frustrated and haven't carved out the time for that yet. Thank you again.
@Equanimity bound No problem 🙂 it happens, I can understand. Sometimes we have tough days and see things differently. Be kind to yourself, everything gonna be okay. Do something you like if you can, go for a short trip, listen to happy music, or try to exercise to get yourself in a mood conducive to meditation.
Who else on here has contamination OCD it would be awesome to talk to others in the same boat
Does anyone have any advice for someone with contamination OCD that is living with a partner without OCD? (Especially given that that partner intentionally or unintentionally sometimes /often says things that make me feel worse/down). I could really use any advice anyone has right now. Things are starting to feel hopeless and I don’t know whether it makes sense to continue with the relationship or if that’s just a temporary feeling in light of what I’m going through. I just feel so alone and misunderstood.
Okay, so, I know it says I have a conqueror badge, which is partially true, but doesn’t tell the whole story. I’m better, NOCD and medication have helped, but I’m not where I want to be yet. There are still things I can’t get past. For context, I have COCD and POCD and they feed into each other. A few things I still struggle with thinking that they contaminated or going to cause harm to someone: • Any kind of bodily fluid, especially my own. (I worry with my male bodily fluids, that I could somehow spread this to people and worry especially that I could spread nastiness to children.) • The floor. For whatever reason I feel that the floor is really gross and that I’ve put bodily fluids on the floor and they are going to be spread to people. (Same type of issue) • Sink handles. • Shoes and socks and my own feet even after a shower. • Trash cans, bags, and dumpsters. • Playing cards. • Other people’s cell phones. • My phone after using it in the bathroom. • Doing laundry. I could use some advice on dealing with these things. A huge thing for me (and here’s where I say only 18 and older should read this,) is a very natural thing that happens to me a lot. Pre-ejaculate. This probably causes me the most stress of anything in my life. I get this often, even when not feeling sexually aroused. I worry that it’ll get on my clothes when I go to the bathroom and then I’ll end up getting in on someone. I worry that it’ll go through my clothes and same result. I worry that when I take my clothes off and some is in my underwear that I’ll get it on the floor and then it’ll end up in my feet, socks, shoes, and/or anything that goes on the floor at all. I worry about getting on the machines or my hands while doing laundry and have to scrub my hands after doing my laundry and/or wipe down the machines or use paper towels to open them/close them/start them/stop them or just touch very specific spots on them. I worry that I’ll get it on me before bed and then my bed will no longer feel clean and safe and I’ll feel like I need to wash my sheets/wipe down everything that comes into contact with my bed. I’m so scared of the possibility of all these things that I avoid doing things like touching my feet or shoes without washing my hands, spraying down the floor with Lysol Disinfectant spray, wiping down anything I think may have had contact with something that may have gotten some on it. I don’t know what to do anymore. I want to be able to just exist and not have to shower before bed or as soon as I wake up or have to wash my hands while I’m doing laundry. I could go into more detail about the other things but they’re relatively self-explanatory. The precum thing is not so I wanted to be v more in depth while describing this issue. I do not have any attraction to children btw, (Back to the POCD) I will protect every child I can. And that’s why this freaks me out so bad because I worry about other peoples wellbeing over my own. Please if anyone has any ideas. Help me. Thank you.
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