- Username
- BG
- Date posted
- 6y ago
That’s a very good point you made to the therapist. We all “choose” where to draw our lines, but the important part is making sure it’s us making the choice and not OCD making it for us. I deal with some contamination OCD to where I have chosen some lines that I won’t cross, but OCD makes me want to let those boundaries get gradually more extreme, so I have to expose myself to the uncertainty to keep the thoughts and rituals from taking over.
That’s what I did ultimately.
I have been building up my self to doing more and more exposures. Then the other day I was out with a friend and she picked up her dogs poop in a baggie and was going to then eat something... without washing her hands. I was like OMG ??? I bet dog owners do this all the time. I made her use sanitizer so I guess that was a compulsion. I can touch animals that are living but I still am afraid of parasites
It's partly about the likelihood of getting sick and the consequences if you do get sick. A small chance of getting a cold isn't the same as a significant chance of getting a virus that will likely kill you. You need to ask yourself if your level of anxiety is proportionate to the degree of risk. There is also the issue of what you do to rid yourself of the possible contamination. Do you wash your hands once with soap for 30 seconds or do you wash your hands repeatedly throughout the day to the point that they get so dry that they crack and bleed?
This answer is more satisfying than that of my therapist’. Thanks Redhawks2212.
If it were me, I would listen to the therapist and try to live with the uncertainty.
David Ben-Arteh I don’t have fear of contamination. I just have this disgusting feeling of thou hing these things because I know that people have touched there after touching their private parts.
That is almost my same issue. I’m not afraid of the consequences of contamination...I just think it’s gross! It actually makes it easier to be exposed to it than someone who fears an actual consequence such as HIV though. As my therapist explained to me...with OCD you have to expose yourself to things over and above what would gross a typical person out. It’s like trying to bend a pole back straight that is already bent one direction...you have to bend it the other way for a while to have it settle back straight. I hope that made sense!
It certainly did.... Because of my ERP.. I have started touching taps and door knob. But last week, I had to use a public washroom and it was dirty and I couldn’t wash my hands there and used my water bottle. Could you please tell if you have exposed yourself to any such situations like bending the pole in opposite direction?
I need to do a lot more than I have; but contamination concerns are really only a minor theme for me so I don’t really focus my therapy on that as much as my pure O themes. I have done things like rub the bottom of my shoe and then eating something with that hand. I have heard of people spraying water from the toilet on things in their house and not cleaning it.....but that’s a line I’m not planning on crossing!
Also eating food off the floor etc. really just start with things that make you uncomfortable and then gradually work your way to more disturbing things.
Thanks buddy.
Hello, i have ocd and find myself washing my hands after touching almost anything that I feel is unclean. I worry that if I don’t wash them then contamination could occur or it could negatively affect me somehow. It’s gotten to the point where I think so unrealistically of when I should or shouldn’t wash them, causing me to not know what to do so I just wash them to be safe. Could anyone help me with ways to fix this issue or lessen it please.
Hello again. I'm having a bit of a struggle today... I worry about contaminating others with my "bathroom germs", and I know ERP would involve carrying on as normal say, if my shirt gets in my lap when using the washroom and touches an area of my body where there's been waste, but while rationally I know that that kind of thing isn't horrible and there's already "bathroom germs" EVERYWHERE... I am stuck. It feels morally wrong to PURPOSEFULLY go about my day despite knowing I'm "contaminated". I get lots of people don't even wash their HANDS... I don't want to participate in the germ spreading. I don't like knowing that MY grossness could be on someone. It's probably not harmful, but I feel like I don't have the right to do this, like it's disgusting and amoral somehow. A vent, I suppose. I want to start meaningful ERP but I can't get over this. Any advice? (Tagging as trigger just in case.)
Good day, you awesome people! I struggle with spreading my own (bathroom/groinal) germs and "contaminating" others somehow. Logically I know it's not necessarily going to make anyone sick, but it's coming to the point where I have to wash my arm if it touches my behind at all while wiping (in case waste travels as it sometimes does)--and this morning I felt I had to wash my hands after touching the shell of my ear. It's clear that a lot of washing I am doing is to avoid guilt--I feel like I am "being sneaky/doing something terrible" if I don't do it. Some things are justifiable, yes, but the line has become so blurred I have changed many of my routines around this and I cannot tell what constitutes as "acceptable" or "normal" hygeine anymore because anything less than what I have started doing feels awful. I even wash my hands after drying off after a shower... though that I am trying to stop. I am wondering if anyone could help me out here with suggestions? Thank you so much for listening to my woes. I appreciate you all immensely.
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