Am in ERP. Now able to wash my hands just once. But still avoiding touching the tap and door knobs. ?

Be patient and kind toward yourself. You can’t all of a sudden be recovered overnight. That’s not how it works. ERP is the golden standard for OCD treatment but you can’t completely reverse all symptoms that quickly or easily. By all means, make every effort to avoid the compulsive behaviors but don’t get down on yourself because you’re not doing the ERP “perfectly.” That’s OCD trying to tell you that you won’t succeed so you should just abort the mission.

Way to go! I’m working on that too with ERP. I can touch the taps now a lot of the time. I can’t if I’m going to eat or prepare food just yet. It is hard but what helps me is telling myself that people without OCD touch taps all the time, the other people in my family touch the taps and they are healthy but what works the best for me is telling OCD it has stolen enough time from me. At the moment that helps push me through the fear. When I’m ready to use door knobs I hope it still works! ?

Proud of you! ERP can be so hard to do, but trust me it’s for the best. I’m rooting for you through this time

Thank you all of you for such motivating comments. Sounds like I have found a new home where everybody understands what is like to have an OCD which I am suffering for almost 20 years.

I use to pour water on the taps before touching them. My therapist told me not to do so. Is it ok not to do so? Because, I believe that pouring water on the taps is not part of my OCD. I have seen many people doing it. One more thing, for me, the reason for not touching things is not always fear of contamination. It is something else which I am afraid if I tell then it may trigger that in someone else.