Has anyone had some event make them Obsessed about something? Ever since then you have been worried about something constantly? I have had that when painters came to my house and then there were a bunch of flies in the house. Ever since then I have been constantly checking everything to make sure there are no bugs there.

That's fantastic! Keep going! :D

I would constantly be worried.

@Stealthhero22 You seem pretty worried already

@Scoggy Exactly, I would be constantly obsessing over the idea it’s on me.

@Stealthhero22 But right now you're already constantly obsessing about potentially getting a bug on you. You're constantly obsessing in order to avoid constantly obsessing?

@Scoggy I am confused now

@Stealthhero22 I asked what would happen if your fear came true and you got a bug on you.

Ok. So if a bug got on you, you worry that it could be hard to find, so it would crawl on you and that would be upsetting and scary. I understand that- I got an ant on my plate today while I ate BBQ, and I blew it off in a direction away from my seat because I didn't want it to land on my body. It can feel very creepy to discover suddenly that there is some bug on you. When I was a child on a holiday, my brother put a millipede in my bed and for a while I made my parents check my bed for bugs before I could go to sleep. But eventually they refused to check for me, my dad told me that if I feel another one then I can come and tell him. Instead I checked my own bed. Then, there were a few nights of false alarms where I was scared and believed one was in my bed again. But eventually I forgot and slept normally again, and I stopped checking in my bed. I just had to prove to myself that it was safe not to worry about a millipede by going to sleep normally without anything bad happening. I think that you could copy what I did and what my dad did for me by refusing to check for bugs, and acting like there is no bug on you, and see what happens. It must have been quite shocking and worrying when you saw that the house had flies and you hadn't noticed before. There is always some risk for everyone that a bug can crawl on us. But a bug is all it is. A millipede on my toes was very creepy and upsetting as a child for me, and I felt anxious just like you do, it was a real shock. But with a bit of help and tough love, I managed to act normally (no checking) even though I was scared, and I eventually forget about my fear. If one day there is a bug on you, it doesn't mean the OCD was correct. It's normal to get a bug on you sometimes. The fear that you won't be able to find it and get it off, is an idea which your mind has created from thinking about it a lot and being anxious. That is no more likely to happen to you than it is to anybody else, and your house is probably no more full of bugs than anyone else's house is. Getting a bug on you won't hurt you, you would be able to deal with it even if it was hard to get it off you. There is no reason it would be hard to find. Try to take a break from thinking about it and decide that you'll worry about it another time. Try to challenge yourself a bit by not checking every time, make it less and less.

@Scoggy I try to rush my checking rituals.

@Stealthhero22 Could you try both rushing them AND reducing them? Like perhaps cutting out the beginning part and starting half way through. And then when you finish, quickly doing something else with your attention to keep your mind off it? Another thing which can help with checking compulsions is to promise yourself that you'll check later, and delay it as long as you can. It can give you some time back and reduce the amount of checking, and it also teaches your brain that when you get that urge to check and you DON'T immediately check, it doesn't make anything bad happen. It's all about gently, firmly showing your brain that it's safe to not check. You can do it!