Somedays, the compulsions are quite exhausting. It drains you to the point that you just want to sleep, just so that you don't engage in any routine. How do you deal or manage contamination ocd, if anyone of you have been dealing with it? For me, it just came out all of a sudden since a year and a half, and it's stayed since then... may also be due to the role of neuroplasticity
I hear you, it really is exhausting and it can be disheartening when you realize how much it takes out of you. Therapy has definitely been helping a lot. One process that helped me was to clean any surface that I felt needed to be cleaned, but only once. Don't do it a second, third, however many more times. Then, go do something you enjoy that can help you deal with the discomfort/fear. For me, this was crafting, walking and listening to music, or watching shows in different languages to keep my brain occupied and to make me feel "normal". After I felt comfortable cleaning things once without feeling distress, I started putting off the cleaning. For example, if someone walked into my house with their shoes on, I would go do those things I enjoyed BEFORE cleaning. Then I'm just delaying it and teaching my brain that it doesn't need to be cleaned immediately. I'm still in that stage, but eventually, I'll be able to just disregard it. Now, this doesn't mean that you can never clean anything, ever. It just means that we don't feel fear if we don't clean right away. It is exhausting, but putting in the work to combat the compulsions gives you so much freedom later. Unfortunately, it isn't an immediate fix. Start with small exposures first and work up from there. You can do this!! OCD will not rule your life!!
Interesting! thanks. Basically, my compulsions of contamination OCD are not associated with fear of germs. But then, that thought is replaced by the feeling of doing it right. I know nothing will happen if I don't do a ritual, but the uneasiness causes an urge to do it. For instance, my recent obsession is keeping my mouth clean. So, i use mouthwash and paste to clean my mouth and even the lip areas. And i have to do it with clean hands, so handwashing gets added to the cycle, and the hands shouldn't touch anywhere, even the tap or else repeat the cycle. Now imagine the hassle. Also, rinsing my mouth with water often. Did you take medication along with therapy?
@Anonymous I tried to, but I had a bad reaction to the medication I was on, then was too scared to try another. I would say work with a therapist and try to find a good starting point. For example, maybe one of the times you clean your mouth do just mouthwash or just paste. Then you can work up from there. Again, this doesn't mean the goal is to stop brushing your teeth or using mouthwash. Rather, the goal is to conquer that fear of "If I don't". I started thinking about the "Bee on my Shoulder". You are allowed to acknowledge that the bee (intrusive thoughts/fears), but if you swat at it, the situation will probably get worse. But if you acknowledge it and then leave it alone, odds are it will go away eventually. I wish you the best, I believe in you!! It's scary now, but you can conquer it!
@sled Well...I tried medications too, some worked a bit, some didn't . First, it was SSRI, it helped me remain calm and minimize my compulsions...later I showed another dr. because the first choice of drug for ocd is prozac/ luvox. We tried that but it didn't work upto the level of ssri, so went back to it. Now, i think it's more the anxiety that causes my ocd. No matter the drug, ERP is must if you want to improve, medications make the process easier. Recently, i got off my med, and also with no proper therapy, add to that unhealthy life patterns and junks...it just flared my ocd and the rituals. But, I'm putting the work together now. Your insights on cleaning once sounded encouraging, because not doing at all would flare it again. Reducing the no of times we do it and slowly improving, will definitely help. We are together on this...
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 🥲🥲💔
This is a repost, only because the last post had no responses lol. Please if you have any advice share. I’ve been trying hard to sit with the feeling of anxiety. Actually that’s the problem, recently I’ve been trying to sit with the thought (and I’m able to for a few hours or until the next morning) and then my anxiety comes back so strong and it’s like I need to clean everything off. I see images of gross laundry getting on everything or my hand and then I need to clean everything off to un contaminate it. Sometimes the thought happens later at night so I just sleep through and the next morning I will wake up with intense anxiety about contamination. That happened yesterday and I had to clean everything off and since then I’ve been traumatized so I’ve been doing compulsions like avoiding the bathroom and being around people so I know I couldn’t have done anything wrong. Actually recently my biggest compulsion has been recording every time I get up to go eat, etc so that I know I couldn’t have done anything. Any advice or help???
Does anyone have any tips that helped them? Mine is due to a specific person and I work with them so it’s been really difficult. I’ve started ERP which has been reaaalllllly challenging and I would love to hear from anyone else that has gone through any type of contamination ocd and how they have overcome or are fighting their way through it. Thank you!l
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