- Date posted
- 1y
OCD cruise edition
I am on a cruise ship and my contamination ocd is so bad. I keep seeing people coughing into their hands and touching everything. What are some tips for cruising with contamination ocd?
I am on a cruise ship and my contamination ocd is so bad. I keep seeing people coughing into their hands and touching everything. What are some tips for cruising with contamination ocd?
Don't overthink and don't try to focus on other behaviors; there are always people who don't care, and you don't need to know the details. Just focus on breathing and know you are safe; nothing will happen because, as you can see, others are okay. When they can cope, you can too. I have contamination OCD, so I know exactly how you feel. Just enjoy your trip and gaze at the sea or have fun with your family or whoever is with you without overthinking, because all our problems stem from that. See this cruise as an opportunity for ERP and your progress in treating your OCD.
I have an idea on how you can get through it, you just have to find a way to justify the circumstances. Cruises end at some point, let’s say it’s a 7-day. Well, think of those 7 days as your “germ exposure for annual immunity reboot” or something because, how else is your immunity gonna remember how to do its job unless it practices once in a while? You gotta put it to the test, put it under a bit of stress, just like you gotta put stress on a muscle for it to grow. That’s exactly what you’re doing by being there on that cruise. Immune cell reboot, by forcing those immune cells to do its job so they stay in pristine operable condition.
Does anyone have any tips on how to handle contamination OCD?
Hello, i have very severe contamination ocd, and as i am writing this i feel my hands are dirty lol, but anyways i wanted to know if there’s anyone specialised in Contamination ocd? No matter what type because i really need help and i looked up things but it doesn’t help please!!
sorry this is super long i just wanna know if anyone else has been thru something similar bc i feel super alone 🩷 i have super bad contamination ocd. it was bad already but my house was like my safe space until a few months ago someone brought something into my house that i considered ‘contaminated’. and so then i felt like that part of the house was contaminated, then it spread to everything outside my room (since family is moving around touching stuff) and then somehow i got convinced everything in my room except my bed is contaminated and i need to wash my hands after touching it. in my mind its like the contamination just infinitely spreads to things after the tiniest bit of touch. idek what im afraid of anymore or even what the original thing was but i can’t let it go. when i have to wash off contamination i have to wash at least 4 times or until it feels right, or sometimes take rlly long showers and wipe down all my stuff. i even throw away food and clothes or just whole items sometimes because they feel so contaminated i don’t want them in my space. i can’t be super near people or have anyone touch me, and i also can’t bring anything new into my room since it had to go through the entry of my house which feels contaminated. i feel like all i do is lay in bed and then wash my hands and do compulsions so i can go eat or do other stuff around the house. also i never go out because i’m bc people outside make me feel dirty, and i hate thinking about how many people have touched stuff in stores or in public and stuff. so im just in my room worrying all day. i feel so trapped and the contamination/avoiding it is all i think about anymore i barely have time for anything else and im never present when i talk to people because im worrying about if i accidentally got contaminated. im starting erp next week and knowing that im going to have to expose myself to things is really freaking me out. does anyone else have this kind of ocd ? im exhaustedddd 🥲🥲💔
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