Is anyone here in the sf bay area? I have contamination ocd, and it is so much worse after moving here because of how dirty the streets are (actual human feces on the street, incredible amounts of trash, other things I dont want to mention here due to potential triggers, etc.). I feel really bad because I'll think I'm getting better, but literally every time I go outside I will see something that triggers me. I have never had to live like this before. I've lived in other major cities and they are nothing compared to how filthy the streets are here, I cannot understand how people are okay living this way. I feel bad because my partner means well but does not really understand at all, and I feel like my very distressed reactions are causing them unnecessary stress, especially when they unintentionally do something that triggers me. I don't think they fully understand how the feeling of terror is very real, how I don't enjoy being this way, and how this feeling of terrible fear makes me feel like a prisoner in my own body. I feel like given the prevalence of ocd and how filthy the streets are here, there must be many people here who similarly struggle, and I would love to hear if anyone (whether you're in sf or not) has any advice on how to cope while living in an objectively very gross environment.

I really get you, I hate filthy streets and it triggers my OCD so much. But the best tip I can give is to change perspective! These triggers are opportunities for you to strengthen you mind. You have free ERP just outside your home. This perspective will help you if you let it. I used to get mad at careless people, I also would like to live in a cleaner part of my city, bit I have made a choice to handle it the best I can.

Thanks for your comment, it helps a lot to hear your perspective! I was in a such bad place mentally last night, I've never had ocd hit me this hard in my life. You're right, and that's how it was before moving here when I would visit time to time. I think it became much worse after moving because I see so much more now, and my primary fears are being triggered pretty often, when everywhere else I lived before they were rarely if ever triggered. It's really messing me up and I'm starting to feel trapped, I will try to keep your perspective in mind in the future, I feel like today and the rest of the week I need to crawl into bed and just be miserable because I'm so exhausted mentally by the bombardment of exposures and I'm not in the right place mentally for response prevention, which is causing me to become worse since it's enforcing the fear response. I'm really glad you're handling it well, I'm going to save your response and try to absorb it now and put it until practice in the future after I can overcome this bad episode, thank you again and stay safe and well