Being stuck at home due to coronavirus has made my ruminating and intrusive thoughts significantly worse. Anyone else dealing with this and have tips? It’s also hard that I don’t have therapy to look forward to for help. I struggle with relationship OCD and it’s so hard especially since my partner is stuck at home in a different state and I have a lot of time at home to just think:(

Hi everyone. First time here. I suffer from Contamination OCD. I have a good support group in friends, family, and my boyfriend, but I have not met anyone else with OCD and I needed to reach out to others to find help. I first got OCD when I was 17 (I am now 33) and was able to go into remission, but COVID brought it back. I was struggling at work (which was outside with the public). I found a therapist and she wrote me a doctor’s note suggesting I be allowed to work from home. My work was not accommodating at all and only offered me FMLA leave, so I took it as my only option and eventually got on Short Term Disability. The whole process took forever and was incredibly stressful. My leave was supposed to be a time of healing and it just made my OCD symptoms worse. My employer basically treated me as though I was trying to get out of work and proved to me that though they talk about the importance of mental health, they don’t take mental health seriously. I ended up having to leave my job “involuntarily due to health reasons” as they would not grant an extension nor let me return with any restrictions/accommodations. My therapist seemed good at first, but it became clear that she wasn’t really helping me. She would often use our sessions to vent about the insurance company and in one session, she basically called me a hopeless case and kept saying “I don’t know. I am concerned. I don’t know how you are going to be able to function” and threw out the word hospitalization, though she did backtrack on that one. I struggle everyday. I am worried that something from outside of the home touched something clean and is now contaminated. I need help working through this. I am constantly looking for reassurance, question if things are clean, wash my hands, use too many disinfectant wipes, and take showers upwards of 50-60 mins. I feel like my mind is being taken over by my OCD, I’m losing time, and it’s straining my relationship. For anyone who is struggling with contamination OCD brought on by COVID - any tips? My therapist never gave me anything specific to work on with this - to help me focus on something else. I am in the process of finding another therapist, but until then - any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

So I’m incredibly anxious as I’m going back home today after being with my partner for a week. I think for me going home is always a trigger because that’s where I had my panic attack that began this all. I’m often alone with a lot of free time at home, which can mean my brain goes into rumination & intrusive thought city and I can feel pretty out of control. If anyone has any tips or suggestions for how they manage their ROCD, when they know their about to enter an environment that is highly triggering I’d be massively grateful. I’ve already completed my morning meditation, I spoke to my Doctor yesterday about everything for the first time I’m really proud of myself for being afraid but taking steps to get the help I need. But I am feeling really anxious & fearful, as I’ve been doing pretty okay whilst I’ve been here.

I’m having an intense bout of relationship OCD right now and the rumination is too extreme. I would normally call someone but everyone’s asleep. Anyone got any advice or distractions right now?