How do you do ERP without spiraling?

I have contamination OCD that causes me to excessively wash my hands/clean items with disinfectant wipes. I know I just need to start with small exposures but how do I do that without spiraling? I tried a while back by just touching the outside of my dishwasher and not washing my hands after and it led to me being unable to even exist in my house. I basically lived on my couch for three weeks as it was the only 'safe' space that I had not touched with my dirty hands. I had to take a week off work to clean my house to make it somewhat liveable. I still haven't got round to cleaning everything though so things like my kitchen are still no-go zones that I don't enter. I just don't know how to start ERP without it making everything worse. Any advice would be appreciated. I am not seeing a therapist at the moment due to financial constraints.

Contamination OCD

Username: MyritaMyrita

Date posted: 15d ago

Hi. I have contamination OCD as well and have the same compulsions. I just started ERP with a therapist for this recently. I would say the key is don’t do too much too soon with exposures and start off with exposures that give you little to no anxiety. Try writing down a list of exposures that you want to attempt and note the anxiety level from 1-10 (1 being no anxiety at all and 10 being completely debilitating). Then, you could start with doing 1-3 minute exposures that are between a 1-3 on that anxiety scale. Write down that anxiety number before you start, during the exposure, then immediately after. Increase the amount of time you delay handwashing and disinfecting gradually. Also, to help prevent spiraling and wanting to clean your whole home after an exposure, try focusing on only touching 1 other object in your home after touching a dirty surface. Go a few minutes without touching anything else and washing your hands/disinfecting, then after hitting your time goal (like 5 minutes for example), you can disinfect the 1 object you touched and wash your hands. Remember that you’re not alone in your struggles and on the other side of discomfort is relief from OCD. I hope this is helpful to you! God bless!

Username: EllieH95EllieH95

Date posted: 15d ago

Thanks for this, I really appreciate your response. I guess my issue is that I could happily sit with dirty hands for hours if I knew I wasn't touching anything else and I knew I could just wash it away. It is when other items get touched and then it spirals because then I have to keep track of everything that would need to be cleaned and then have to take the time out to actually do the cleaning (which I despise doing). One of the things I find hard to explain is that I'm not worried about getting sick, I don't think I will die if I touch something. My fears of contamination are completely illogical because I'm hyper aware nothing will happen and yet I can't stop the compulsions.

Username: EstridEstrid

Date posted: 15d ago

I think it's important to start with an understanding that your rituals are pointless - even if it's scary to let go of compulsions you have to grasp the fact that they don't help you in anyway. If you accept that and welcome the doubts - you don't need to spirale. Instead you focus on the process and take tiny tiny steps. You have to decide what your goal is and go for it. If you don't afford therapy there are books that can help you. You are stronger than you know!

Username: silverfire

Date posted: 4y ago

(How can you do ERP when there is a legit concern?) Trigger warning for Contamination OCD/coronavirus. For instance, I’m pregnant right now and have had a resurgence of contamination OCD. (I also have GAD, so I’m never sure which tactic to take with a thought.) Health really is a legitimate concern here, and I’m told I should be more careful. Of course I overdo it, yet ERP seems to be the exact opposite of being more careful and that seems very, very unwise. How do you do exposure for something that your doctor says to not do? How do you do exposure for something like, for another unrelated example, not wearing a mask around other people right now in the time of the pandemic when you’re absolutely required to wear a mask and it’s dangerous to not? ERP basically doesn’t make sense to me. By that thinking I should be changing the litter box and not washing my hands and *I definitely should not do that*. How do you do ERP when there is a legitimate aspect of an actual concern?

Contamination OCD

Username: Anonymous

Date posted: 2y ago

How do I convince myself to start ERP therapy? Should I schedule a session even if I'm not ready?

Hi everyone! I have severe contamination OCD, and the worst of it involves fears of my beloved 12 year old dog getting cancer later in my life due to my actions. I was recently exposed to secondhand and thirdhand smoke and as a result, I have avoided seeing my dog for over a week now. I have been struggling with this disease for a very long time and it has only gotten worse over time. I also have other contamination fears such as just being a gross human due contact with bodily fluids or not cleaning my body adequately. I feel that some fears are more anxiety provoking and worse than others. For example, I regularly take 2 hours showers. But with my fear of bodily fluids and being gross, I feel strong enough to begin ERP therapy. Because the worst case consequence is just me being gross and embarrassing myself, but nothing more severe. With my fear of my dog getting cancer due to direct or indirect exposure to harmful household products, situations, or environmental toxins, I have not been able to convince myself to start ERP therapy. This is because I know that it involves accepting uncertainty or the small possibility that my dog might indeed get cancer due to my actions, and I just can't bring myself to accept that without performing the compulsions that I think will help reduce the risk (e.g. cleaning my clothes, car, avoiding him, etc.). If someone truly loves their loved ones or pets, I don't understand how they are able to just put this fear and the very real risk of it happening aside. Even after doing ERP therapy and accepting potential exposure to harmful toxins/situations, it is not as though I will see that nothing bad has happened to him and find relief, because my fear of him getting cancer is a long-term consequence, something that will happen near the end of his life. I desperately need help but I feel that ERP therapy goes against my values, who I am as a person, and would mean that I'm intentionally ignoring the signs that my dog is in harm's way. It almost feels neglectful to me. I feel that I am bound to keep suffering the way I am. And therefore I feel stuck and paralyzed. Any help or advice that could frame the situation a different way or show me a different perspective would be much appreciated! I keep reading that for ERP therapy to be successful, one must believe in better outcomes as a result of it, but I am just not convinced. Thank you for reading! Much love to all of my fellow sufferers <3

Username: Dutchgirl

Date posted: 1y ago

ERP

I have contamination OCD. How am I supposed to do ERP when I feel like there’s poison everywhere? I can’t live like this anymore but ERP is terrifying to me.

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How do you do ERP without spiraling?

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