Is anyone else starting to regret treatment? I had moderate contamination OCD gr hat I had JUST gotten a handle on, and now because of COVID-19 I feel like the world suddenly expects me to act...exactly the way I was, and I KNOW the difference, but I’ve been guilted out of purell as part of “treatment” and now we actually need it I don’t have any and feel guilt buying it. I’m just really starting to wish I’d never gotten help ?

Contamination OCD

sara235

Date posted: 5y ago

I relate to this sooooo much. Based on my conversations with my therapist, I’m deferring to CDC recommendations. BUT the key is to not go above and beyond (i.e. not taking “wash for 20 seconds” to mean “wash four times in a row for a minute each time”). Totally understand that it’s a tough balancing act, but having good (reasonable, medically directed) hand hygiene is a good idea at a time like this. You’re definitely not alone. I feel like I’m living in one, six-week long ERP exercise right now.

Ceej

Date posted: 5y ago

Yes. This. But the guilt is starting to get to me. My ability to self evaluate is totally shot, between the ERP treatment that lessened the contamination OCD down to nearly nothing and the American tendency to be required to work when sick. I don’t trust my brain anymore to tell me anything true regarding illness, and the additional confusion of jobs that would have penalized me for NOT coming into work sick, now expecting me to stay home (but still penalizing next) makes me just want to stay in this bed and not come out until it’s over. And since the CDC recommended that vulnerable populations try to avoid going out, and I live with members of that population, that might not even be unreasonable! What a mess. Also, every time I see that handwashing recommendation I just want to up it to 40 seconds. Let’s kill off norovirus while we’re at it

Sunrise22

Date posted: 5y ago

Hi Ceej! I can understand how you feel that way. If it were me, I would continue with the treatment. The odds of this virus becoming a major issue in the U.S. seems really low. I’m assuming that your therapist isn’t having you avoid basic hygiene practices like good hand washing? If there starts to be an indication that constant hand sanitizer or masks are needed, then I think that would be appropriate for you to take part in but not at this point

Ceej

Date posted: 5y ago

The problem is the stuff I was supposed to stop doing (avoiding touching doorknobs, using hand sanitizer, not washing my hands so frequently) are now exactly what I’m supposed to be doing by the CDCs guidelines. So it’s a conflicting situation where I’ve trained my brain to not do these things, now the CDC is saying do them, and I have loads of guilt because I WAS doing these things and STOPPED. Ugh. So frustrating.

Fathomable

Date posted: 5y ago

Oof yeah. It's like having an eating disorder when you're overweight. Everything and everyone encourages you to do behaviours which trigger ED compulsions or which are actually part of it. It makes me seriously angry.

Eliane

Date posted: 24w ago

Confused

I have a question My OCD has felt almost invisible the past few weeks and now that is starting to stress me out a lot. Right now I am at a point in my treatement where I was asked if I would like to take medication. I told my therapist this week that I would like to try the medication based on how miserable I feel in during OCD flare ups. But now my brain always tells me that I only go throught this treatement etc. to seek attention and that I am just dramatic and should be ashamed of myself for wanting to take this medication. So now I am doubting if I should take the medication or not. Any advice?

EllieH95

Date posted: 23w ago

How do you do ERP without spiraling?

I have contamination OCD that causes me to excessively wash my hands/clean items with disinfectant wipes. I know I just need to start with small exposures but how do I do that without spiraling? I tried a while back by just touching the outside of my dishwasher and not washing my hands after and it led to me being unable to even exist in my house. I basically lived on my couch for three weeks as it was the only 'safe' space that I had not touched with my dirty hands. I had to take a week off work to clean my house to make it somewhat liveable. I still haven't got round to cleaning everything though so things like my kitchen are still no-go zones that I don't enter. I just don't know how to start ERP without it making everything worse. Any advice would be appreciated. I am not seeing a therapist at the moment due to financial constraints.

Contamination OCD

issphra 🫶🏻

Date posted: 23w ago

Does anyone else..

Feel guilty for not giving into compulsions like rumination and confessing? I feel guilt for having an intrusive thought, trying to shrug it off or just giving it a few seconds of thought and moving along. This sounds like improvement but I still struggle with the anxiety and the guilt. The shame. I’ll be okay and then I’ll remember I have OCD and my stomach will drop and I just want to curl up and cry.

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