Any advice on how to get hand washing ocd under control? I struggle with washing my hands one time and then fearing it’s not clean enough. What if I have rabies from touching something outside and now it’s still on my hands. What if by me walking into the kitchen and seeing a mouse or a bat,now I need to go wash my hands. This ocd has been getting the worse of me. My hands are dry and irritated. Please someone help
i have had the same problem for about a year now :( i completely understand it’s very distressing and it’s hard to stop- even if you tell yourself you want to stop you can’t because you feel like it’s not enough. it’s like for other people when they wash their hands it’s like a stoplight - when their done the light does red( signal your finished and clean) but for us it just stays on yellow :( i’m sorry i have no real advice for you i just wanted to let you know your not alone and that if you want to talk more i would love to
Are you me? It started with handwashing/germs but has morphed over the last two years into bat and mice territory. I had seen evidence of bats in my attic and saw one in a gable vent, see them fly all around the house at night in summer, etc, it’s torture, I used to be someone who could sit outside at night for hours, I was recently forced by my wife to go outside to see a rare northern light show that came far south. It’s like a dream of mine and I was shaking but made my way outside. Habitually checking cameras outside when I walk, thinking something flies by me, etc. further as far as mice are concerned, a story that hopefully provides some solace. First off, I don’t think mice have rabies, and mice diseases are very rare (bats having rabies are very rare too <10% I believe). At any rate, last year I removed every ceiling tile in my basement (probably hasn’t been done in decades) and absolutely got RAINED on by mouse poop, seed shells, even a mouse skull, it was a nightmare. I was wearing glasses and gloves (no mask) and was/am still horrified by the thought but I’m here to tell the story. Since then I’ve had plumbers/electricians come and an unearth the ceiling tiles (they did this before I replaced to) and they also got rained on by dust and things. I even asked one guy (in my ocd brain hoping for validation) if it concerns him and he goes “this happens to me multiple times a day. Think about all of these people across the country who literally spend their 9-5 in the deepest darkest crevice of your home. I’m getting long winded and all over the place but my second story is back to bats, had someone come out to check the attic and he troops up, sees the guano and PRESSES IT WITH HIS BARE FINGER. I was mortified but also my contamination OCD doesn’t umbrella over other people. I asked him pretty much “so wtf?” And he goes “so long as you don’t stick your fingers in your mouth” God bless this man. At any rate, I try to realize that statistics are certainly in our favor AND people deal with this shit multiple times a day. I’ve struggled walking by my car tires and not wanting to brush by them but then I think “look at that kid over their getting out of his parents care two handing the tires as he jumps out of the car”. Fortunately people are not catching rabies like RSV or norovirus. Sorry I will wrap up soon but you’ve struck a chord! Recently I’ve tried to think of it this way: if I walked into an ER, would they prescribe me rabies treatment? Unless you handled a dead animal or had a known encounter with one/find one in your home, the likelihood is no. Hopefully going down a thought process like that can help you find peace in the reality of the situation vs the OCD “what if?” Handwashing is touching on all of the above. For preventing norovirus, the CDC (!) makes the following recommendation; “Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds” 20 seconds!? Is that a joke? To stop one of the most contagious illnesses in the planet? Say what you want about the CDC but I am going to put some credence in this assessment (even though my OCD will tell me to wash twice, for a +minute, each). So hopefully you can rationalize in the moment that you have done your part, and anything aggressively more is your OCD trying to control an uncontrollable situation. - Triple Hand asher
Does anyone have any tips on how to handle contamination OCD?
I obsess constantly about my hands being dirty and feel like I can actually see the germs and bacteria crawling all over my hands if I can’t wash them as soon as I touch something. It’s really embarrassing since people in my life have noticed this “weird” behavior but it’s a huge problem for me and I don’t know how to make the obsessive thoughts stop.
(long read ahead, sorry lol) I’ve struggled with ocd for as far back as I can remember. I find that it gets worse with stress, and recently I’ve really been struggling with the contamination aspect of my ocd. I’m worried about it becoming unmanageable and negatively affecting my relationship with my partner. I’ve been living with my boyfriend since January (got kicked out of my house a week after I turned 18, it’s for the better though my house is toxic as hell) and I love living with him, but him and his family aren’t as concerned with cleaning as I am used to. My boyfriend and I have been together going on 2 years and there’s been many times throughout our relationship that his struggle with depression severely impacted his ability to keep up with cleaning his room. This is something I completely understand because I’ve struggled with it too so i’ve often helped him clean, and since i’ve moved in he’s done so much better at keeping up with cleaning (especially because he knows about my issues with clutter, mess, germs, etc.) He is really good at being accommodating towards my needs (not overly so, i’m aware that recovering includes accepting being uncomfortable), but it’s so hard for me to differentiate between what is the normal standard for cleanliness and hygiene and what’s excessive and unhealthy. I get so stressed out every single day over the thought of how dirty everything is. He has 3 cats that mainly stay in his room (he has a catio attached to his window/side of the house) and dogs which stay on the opposite side of the house and backyard, so there is fur everywhere constantly (i’m also allergic to cats but it’s not severe). I can’t stop thinking about how they are getting germs from their litter box all over everything. They also used to piss under his bed and in his closet when his room used to be a mess and it’s soaked into the floor so no matter what it stinks. It’s so hard to bring myself to walk around the house without slippers because my feet will get visibly dirty and my socks would get covered in hair. I always think about how my boyfriend sometimes walks on the rugs in the bathroom in shoes and all the germs that spreads. There’s so many more things but this is already getting long and I am shaking just thinking about how unclean everything is. I want to deep clean the entire house myself so I can get it to where It’s not like psychological torture everyday and it’s easier to maintain but I have been so busy I don’t have the time. I am worried about my boyfriend thinking I don’t like living with him or that I think that’s he’s dirty but i don’t. We have had several conversations about this and he’s reassured me that he knows none of my obsessive thoughts are personal but I still feel so bad about it. I would like to get therapy to help work through this but currently that is not an option for me. I know things will get better once I get through the main things in my life that are causing a lot of stress and therefore making my ocd flair up, but I need advice on what to do in the mean time. I keep having moments where all I can do is shake and cry and clean and I feel bad for my poor boyfriend who can only sit next to me and try to comfort me or help me clean. I also don’t want to make him worried that nothing he does is enough for me (i’ve also already talked to him about this and told him about how I can never even be clean enough for myself and that I don’t think he’s dirty). There’s been many times where I want to tell him to do things that I think might be my own unhealthy compulsions (ex. not wearing shoes in the house or in our room, not getting into bed with socks on, making sure to completely dry off before getting out the shower, put makeup and jewelry back where they belong right after using them, etc.) but i can’t tell if they’re reasonable or not and i try to not tell him unless it’s something that severely distresses me. I’m aware that everything is going to have germs no matter what and have been using NER’s to help manage my thought spirals/rumination. I know that I shouldn’t keep doing compulsions because it just offers temporary relief and makes the problem worse because nothing will ever be enough. I just feeling so overwhelmed and hopeless and exhausted and want some feedback.
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