Hello, nice to be here and meet you all. I have had contamination ocd since I was a young girl. I am 45. It has gotten so much worse since I had children and lost my dear mother. I feel like I have no one to talk to about it and I am desperately searching for help and for community. Thank you for any support. I want to enjoy life again without all this worry, guilt, doubt, and shame. I would like to be free.
Hello, I also have contamination ocd and completely understand what you mean when you say you wish you could just enjoy life like everyone else again. With time and patience I know we'll get there. Wishing you nothing but the best!
@Bell<3 Thank you so muchš. Wishing you all the best, too!
Hi Maclean - I'm sorry your symptoms have returned in full force. I am also someone who has dealt with ocd my whole life. While it sucks that ocd always comes back, remember that you have beat it back countless times before! You are not your thoughts, and there is always hope to get better <3 I think the worst part of OCD is knowing that your thoughts are irrational, and still not being able to stop the compulsions. Being here is the first step towards getting better and the journey is hard - I wish you fortitude
@Anonymous Thank you so much! This is exactly the support Iām looking for. I still, for some awful reason, think my compulsions make sense, but every other person in my life lives normally and freely in this respect. I know I need to take a better look and see my compulsions for what they really are. Nonsensical. I canāt thank you enough for your thoughtful comment and support.
I have contamination issues, too, among other obsessions. Everything has been amplified since my parents passing away within months of each other about 2 years ago. I've had OCD since a child, and like you I desperately want to live a "normal" life. I am physically and emotionally drained all the time. It's so hard. Hang in there.
Hi. Iām new here. Iāve had contamination OCD for many years. Hoping to reduce my compulsions and get some of my life back.
Iām new to this app and really happy to be within a community of people working through same thing. I have been working through contamination ocd since the start of the pandemic. Itās debilitating mentally. It just wants me to seek certainty in every compulsion and also reassurance and researching online incessantly. Anyone else struggle with this specific ocd? Wiping down doorknobs every time someone touches them. I canāt even sit outside in the grass Iām afraid of the pandemic. I wonāt touch my groceries for three days. I miss my old self. I literally feel like a different person since March.
Hi everyone. First time here. I suffer from Contamination OCD. I have a good support group in friends, family, and my boyfriend, but I have not met anyone else with OCD and I needed to reach out to others to find help. I first got OCD when I was 17 (I am now 33) and was able to go into remission, but COVID brought it back. I was struggling at work (which was outside with the public). I found a therapist and she wrote me a doctorās note suggesting I be allowed to work from home. My work was not accommodating at all and only offered me FMLA leave, so I took it as my only option and eventually got on Short Term Disability. The whole process took forever and was incredibly stressful. My leave was supposed to be a time of healing and it just made my OCD symptoms worse. My employer basically treated me as though I was trying to get out of work and proved to me that though they talk about the importance of mental health, they donāt take mental health seriously. I ended up having to leave my job āinvoluntarily due to health reasonsā as they would not grant an extension nor let me return with any restrictions/accommodations. My therapist seemed good at first, but it became clear that she wasnāt really helping me. She would often use our sessions to vent about the insurance company and in one session, she basically called me a hopeless case and kept saying āI donāt know. I am concerned. I donāt know how you are going to be able to functionā and threw out the word hospitalization, though she did backtrack on that one. I struggle everyday. I am worried that something from outside of the home touched something clean and is now contaminated. I need help working through this. I am constantly looking for reassurance, question if things are clean, wash my hands, use too many disinfectant wipes, and take showers upwards of 50-60 mins. I feel like my mind is being taken over by my OCD, Iām losing time, and itās straining my relationship. For anyone who is struggling with contamination OCD brought on by COVID - any tips? My therapist never gave me anything specific to work on with this - to help me focus on something else. I am in the process of finding another therapist, but until then - any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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