Any tips for construction and contamination

I really struggled with similar contamination fears with my home at one point. It was so distressing. I too felt like I had to throw everything out, as well as wanting to clean all the surfaces with bleach. The thing is, is that none of that helped. It was never enough for OCD. It might feel better for a quick moment, but then a new fear and doubt would take it's place. What helped me overcome this was doing ERP and learning to better tolerate distress and uncertainty, and now I have a lot of freedom and peace from the distress around my home! I'm sorry this is so difficult for you and that people are making you feel worse for not understanding. It really sucks when people don't get how OCD makes you feel. The fears feel so real and intense. I definitely get what you are saying.

The best course of action is to do ERP! If you're unfamiliar, it's known as Exposure and Response Prevention -- the idea is to sit with uncomfortable thoughts/feelings, acknowledge them, and then NOT engage with them. That part is called active non-engagement. By sitting with these thoughts and not trying to suppress them, change them, etc, you are training your brain to recognize that these thoughts and fears aren't warranted. Subsequently, the thoughts will lose their charge and then will eventually stop coming up as frequently! If you haven't already, I'd encourage working with an OCD therapist to help guide you through this better than I ever could here. NOCD is a great place to start if you're looking, but any OCD therapist will do! As for dealing with people who don't get it... if someone makes you feel worse about something THEY don't understand/care to understand, that says more about them than it does about you. Be true to yourself, take care of yourself, and prioritize yourself. This is YOUR mental health and no one else needs to understand it in order for you to handle it. Hang in there and keep at it! Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise!

There is some room for concern and certainly you can consider wearing a mask while getting close to the roof. But if you have contamination fears you need a therapist. There are also lots of good tips on the Patrick McGrath Wednesday night webinar on the NOCD page on YouTube. Or really any NOCD webinar can be helpful. Go ahead and check out some of the videos. In addition you can contact NOCD for a free 15 minute call to discuss further. They can offer more detail than I can here. https://www.treatmyocd.com/about-us/contact-us

Hello, so glad you reached out here in the community and have already received responses. Like the other responses said, ERP would be a great fit for you to work with. I could see how it would be distressing to have the construction and those associated consequences out of your control. You can handle this with the right help and support. NOCD has lots of free resources and/or many different therapists that you could schedule with.