- Date posted
- 6y ago
- Date posted
- 6y ago
If it makes you feel any better, I used to wash my hands and arms until they were so raw they were bleeding. I’d wash several times each wash, throughout the day. I even at times used bleach wipes. Now I only wash when I need to, once but thoroughly (I’ll sing the happy birthday song twice and I just let it be). It may help to ask someone who doesn’t have OCD when they wash their hands. Usually after using the bathroom and taking out garbages but ask so you can try to limit washing for when you do those things. As for how I got over it, my therapist made me touch things that I thought were contaminated and waited 10-15minutes before I can wash -once. Sometimes she had me rub my hands all over myself and all over my place so it’s spread enough it’s hard to clean. Also maybe after touching something you think is contaminated, touch your family. I touched my ex who understands my OCD and is very supportive. Seeing him being okay to what I perceived to be danger helped me to realize it’s okay.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
You’ll get through this. ❤️
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Wow u have awesome support crazy cat lady
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I actually took the handles off of my sink so the water couldn't turn on because i was so sick of washing my hands until they hurt, it actually helped! ?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Thanks you all so much for the support!
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@crazy.cat.lady I might try that. It seems so difficult tho? especially touching my family, I don’t want to hurt them?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@sof you can do it! My therapist had me eat chocolate off of a toilet seat ?and had me crying ?but I’m not scared as badly as i used to be. Also if it helps, have your family or whomever allows you to touch them to be with you when you touch the contaminated thing. If it helps have them tell you to touch them. And after you do go reward yourself. ?I know you don’t want to hurt them. It sucks how OCD attacks things that we care about the most.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@crazy.cat.lady Yh, it’s frustrating?
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w ago
I've gotten diagnosed with OCD and I'm in therapy. But I'm worried that I don't have OCD/that I got misdiagnosed. And recently I'm worried that I've just gotten myself into a habit of thinking of dirty minded or just plain old terrible things after I see/hear certain things because I feel like I need to prove I have OCD or else I'm faking(sometimes this goes away). Or that I'm just mimicking symptoms of ocd to cope with real problems I may have and that im just really deep into denial. I don't know...I'm just so tired. I mean, what if I really am what I think I am and this is my brains only way of coping? I don't even really feel anything towards most of the thoughts anymore either I just know they go against my values and I don't want them. I don't know if that's because I'm so mentally exhausted, I just don't care, or that the thoughts are true and I'm comfortable with them.
- Date posted
- 18w ago
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.
- Date posted
- 7w ago
OK, this might sound really dumb, but when you guys get intrusive thoughts, do they just come once and then go away? I’ve heard that repeatedly thinking about an intrusive thought is considered ‘checking,’ but it doesn’t feel like I have any control over how many times it comes up in my head. It’s not like I’m trying to check anything—it just keeps showing up, almost like it’s terrorizing me every time. I can’t seem to stop it from looping, stop remembering it, or prevent it from coming up. Every time it does, I feel horrified, and I already know it’s going to horrify me. I don’t think I’m actively trying to see if my feelings have changed, so is this still considered checking? How do other people get an intrusive thought and just move on? Doesn’t it pop up a million times for them too? I always thought that was normal, but now I’m hearing this could be a compulsion, and I feel really confused, scared, and lost. Is this why my OCD feels so extreme? Because I really don’t feel like I can control how many times the thought pops up.
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