- Username
- Jenn
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Welcome to the group :) I’m sure you aren’t the only person struggling with OCD with that same obsession. But either way, we here are all struggling with the same disorder, just different forms of it. So even if there isn’t anyone here with the same exact obsession as you we can still understand what you’re going through and won’t judge!
I am also extremely afraid of lice and bed bugs! You aren’t alone!
There are others in this community with that exact same fear!
It’s nice to know at least I’m not the only one. Some days it’s like my compulsions completely take over and I’m checking and rechecking beds and my hair etc even though my rational brain is telling me to stop, there’s always that one “what if” thought that tortured me.
Yeah, I can’t tell you how much money I wasted buying lice elimination stuff and how much I treated my hair and washed all my clothes and sheets. Every single time my head itches even a little bit my ocd is triggered. I wonder how anyone ever buys a hat or lays down on a bed in a store. I also have a really intense fear of coming into contact with poison ivy oil and getting a really severe rash. I have yet to meet someone else with that problem ☹️
I have that as well. I cannot go near anything with leaves like plants growing out of the ground even if I know they aren’t poison ivy because in my head I keep thinking it may not be poison ivy but that doesn’t mean an animal hasn’t brushed up against poison ivy and then up against the same plant. And I’m the same way with lice as well. If I get the thought in my head I’ll use a flea comb through my hair for weeks until the thought subsided and I hate trying clothes on because I feel like the person before me could have had head lice.
Oh man I am the same way. I can’t even pet my parents’ dog or cat anymore because I’m so afraid they have gotten poison ivy oil in them. I’m also afraid to touch the outside of my car because I worry that I could’ve driven some poison ivy plants and that the plants grazed my car. I don’t like trying on clothes either, and I am pretty afraid of the seats in movie theaters because I know a lot of people get lice that way.
Hi there I feel rather alone with my OCD Iv suffered from contamination OCD for almost 20 years, I have OCD about a unattractive girl who went to the same high school as me, I feel compelled to wash my hands with disinfectant if I come into contact with anything she may have touched I also have a mild dose of intrusive thought OCD and religious OCD I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar in regards to the contamination OCD
Hi everyone. I have PANS OCD and had it early as a child around 5. It was debilitating I went though counting, contamination OCD even thinking family members were contaminated, hand washing till my hands were raw and more I had a good childhood but it was heavily OCD based which stinks. I am now 25 and have had manageable OCD throughout the last 10 ish years. Up till late last year I got it back again worse than ever.. I am now worried about asbestos and mold and lead and household things we moved into an older home and it’s been awful. I also worry constantly 24/7 about death… also We don’t have any of those materials In our home but my OCD won’t leave me alone. I went into treatment didn’t sleep the 4 days I was there and checked myself out, I instantly regretted it and tried going back but they wouldn’t let me back right away unfortunately. I am seeing my therapist once a week and trying to live life as an adult with OCD it never fully went away but it was so manageable and now I need to learn to live with crippling OCD all over again if anyone has any advice or relates to this please comment so we can talk. Thanks Lydia
Hello everyone, I'm new here and have severe contamination ocd that has been happening the past four years since I was 20. I'm 24 now and it seems to be getting worse. I don't want to be around kids because I know they're germy little gremlins and carry the main thing I fear that caused my ocd to worsen. I shower whenever anything above my chest has been touched (neck, face, hair). I wash my clothes after one wear because they feel contaminated after the use. I refuse to let people touch my bed or clean clothes. If I hear that anyone in my family is sick I freak out intensely and have to stay away from them. I also shower if I've been in public and people were coughing near me. If I don't feel like showering and that my above triggers aren't contaminated I just wash my arms up to the elbow and go to sleep because I sleep in short sleeve shirts and my arms touch everything all day. I refuse to touch my face, neck or hair after touching my phone or anything else. I bring a travel blanket with me but have to wash it after every use. I use my shoe to open doors and press the cross walk button. If I can't use my shoe I use my pinkie and immediately handsanitize sometimes twice just to have my hands feel clean. I have to use a utensil to eat when in a restaurant and would ask to change it if I see it touch anything. I work at a place that requires me to use a phone so I have to shower and wash my ear. I hold my breath when walking past people. I can't sit back in the car or on the couch because it'll contaminate my neck and hair. I also have to do a double wash with my hands to feel clean. I used to do it for 20 seconds but I do the hand wash for 20 the 1st time then 30 for the second. I can't wear purses with straps that touch my shoulders, same with back packs. And I use so much soap and lotion that don't help keep my hands moisturized. And if I get triggered by anything I sit there in a quiet rage and ramble in my head because I know saying anything out loud will have me look crazy. There are times though that I get angry and close to tears when it feels like I've been contaminated and when my family makes fun of me for things I feel I have no control over especially the intrusive thoughts, emotions, anger, fear, and tiredness I feel on a daily basis. I'm scared of doing exposure therapy because I know they'll have me touch something contaminated and have me touch my face and not wash it how does that help it'll just make me angry.
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