- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
That’s what I did too when I started with the hierarchy list or I would skip the minor things, thinking when I am able to conquer the more anxiety provoking ones then I probably won’t even think of the small ones anymore. But that’s not how it work, at least for me. The best way I personally believe is to climb the ERP ladder. Meaning starting with the first smallest step on your hierarchy list.
- Date posted
- 5y
And what do you mean exactly by mentally contaminated? Because for me personally I think of mentally contaminated as being, they technically aren’t contaminated but your ocd has labeled them contaminated because something or someone at one point touched them and that person was an ex and therefore if I touch that now then that would be like cheating on my bf to have another mans “germs” especially an ex’s on me or my hands. Sorry that may be not be at all near what your explaining. I’m just trying to understand
- Date posted
- 5y
Well we know the fears are irrational. And I once heard on a podcast called, OCD Stories, “do the opposite” that your ocd is telling you to do. So along with ERP. Keeping those 3 words in the back of my head has actually helped. So I don’t know if you have made a hierarchy list but I strongly suggest doing that and listing them in order from least anxiety provoking to most anxiety provoking. And no matter how small your least anxiety one is, always remembered, that’s still a win! So what I have done and am still doing is climbing what I call my ERP ladder. From the 1st step and up. But obviously doing these exposures is going to cause anxiety you need to go into it knowing this and prepared for this. So for me breathing techniques work well and also then moving my attention to something else so I am not constantly thinking about it. And for my and if you put the effort in, minute by minute your anxiety will lessen. And since you said they were hobbies you used to do.. maybe try starting them in small amounts of time and slowly build up.
- Date posted
- 5y
And as far as feeling like something is forever contaminated, my OCD wants to answer yes to that. BUT logically the answer is no! And that’s what we have to do think logically! If you really think about it not too much can be forever contaminated. Germs die. Cold viruses die. Flu viruses die. Even sperm dies after being exposed for a period of time. So for me personally I combat the irrational part of the OCD with fact or what some may call common sense. My therapist basically told me to “debate” with my OCD by using logic.
- Date posted
- 5y
Hi stef thanks for the advice! Yes it’s similar to how you’ve explained but just a different ocd fear. How do you cope if you did touch the contimated object/person? Do you feel like it’s forever contaminated, do you having any strategies for dealing with this, thanks again
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
Never feels like I can fully put my mind to rest. The problem with OCD for me is once I'm over one worry there's another buried deep into my mind that I'm not fully over. The two events I'm not completely over is when I tried to help a 17 year old with POCD when I was 19 and the topics unfortunately were detailed and even then I explained to them I wasn't comfortable with talking to them. I guess I just had a hard time saying no to someone needing help but it eventually made me so uncomfortable that I stopped talking with them altogether at some point. Then the other thing is being so worried that I committed a crime because my elbow touched someone's behind when I didn't want that to happen at all. I didn't want to listen to my OCD by saying move my arm or something horrible is going to happen so I didn't and then something bad actually did happen. I thought it would just be a light touch while zipping a bag up but then it was worse than I ever wanted it to be and it was so awkward and I hated it. I feel like I just won't be able to get back to the way I was before OCD started all of this. Aside from that I've just had extreme health anxiety but am too afraid to reach out to a PCP even though I need to. Something deep down is telling me I should do this but I'm just so anxious and embarrassed about sharing things to them. I can't even enjoy the things I used to do because this is constantly just messing up my life. I'm hoping I get a start of positivity next time I see my therapist. This just sucks. Feels like others around me are doing so much better than I am and I'm just kind of stuck on these same problems and feeling absolute shame and guilt from the past over and over again. I'm just so sick of dealing with this every single day so I just use escape whenever I can. Even that doesn't really work. I just wish I could go back in time.
- Date posted
- 21w
So I have pretty intense contamination OCD tied to Moral/Real event OCD, and I'm having a hard time with it because part of me does genuinely believe my logic checks out, and I was hoping to get some insight as to how to change the way I see it from other people who sort of get the mindset involved :). To sum it up as well as I can, I basically have a very souped-up version of the same item-event association most people have. For example, let's say you have a HORRIBLE, GOD AWFUL relationship with a person you can't even begin to think of favorably even years after the event. They had gotten you a stuffed animal for your anniversary at some point. You finally "escape" the relationship, and you throw away the stuffed animal. This is seen as a very normal and sound-of-mind action. Here's where things get tricky: For me, throwing out that stuffed animal wouldn't be enough. After all, it touched my table didn't it? And my table touched the floor right? And these things now carry that person's germs. And if I don't get rid of them, then they'll infect my future belongings. This logic isn't entirely flawed either, as even my OCD specialist said he believes in a "weaker version of what I do". How am I supposed to convince myself that what I'm believing is false when the literal psychologist confirmed that what I'm doing is just a more in-depth version of a normal experience? Ex: I have a new outfit, fresh and clean. I'm unbothered and happy, but I knick the side of a table. The table holds awful associations. I get this awful sense of dread. The clothes are now somewhat sullied, and I'll eventually have to give them away. I don't think I'm explaining this as well as I could, but I feel like those notions are there. Anyways, does anyone have any insight as to how to get my mind to genuinely believe that interacting with these things is "safe"?
- Date posted
- 19w
Hi this is my first time posting on here. I wasn't sure if I should because I want to make sure I'm not seeking reassurance because I heard that makes ocd worse. I don't want to talk about what my ocd problem was, but basically I was really upset about a religious ocd problem that I know isn't true. I'm feeling a lot better about it now, but when it was bad I decided to try and get better on my own. I read about ERP therapy and how you're supposed to make a list of your ocd problems, from least distressing to most. So I wrote them down on two pieces of paper. At first I started with the simple ones, like looking for spiders before leaving the room. I have a tendency to look for spiders before leaving a room but lately I've been trying not to anymore. Then I decided to try and do one of the hard things. It was a religious ocd problem. I decided to start simple, and just write the problem down on a piece of paper. So I went downstairs and got some paper. But then I thought, oh no, my ocd is probably not going to like this. What do I do with the paper once I write it down? If I think what I wrote down is bad and going to upset God and I will go to hell, (even though I know logically it's not), my ocd is probably going to freak out if I throw away the paper. It probably won't calm down unless I erase it. So I just decided to not write it down on a paper, and just type it on my phone instead. So I did, I typed it on my phone. So, even though I didn't write anything down on the paper, now it feels like that peice of paper is bad. I feel like it's connected to the problem I was having, and I was so upset I called my mom crying asking her what to do. Eventually I decided to just put the paper back with the rest of the paper downstairs, but I'm still upset. I feel like I have to throw away all the paper downstairs, the pencil I was going to use to write down the problem, and the eraser I was going to use in case I needed to erase anything. It feels like if I use any of those items I will make God angry and go to hell. I know I shouldn't do this though, so I'm not going to. I don't know what to do with the papers where I wrote down my ocd problems. They are on my desk and I'm too afraid to move them. And if I put them in my desk I'm afraid they will get mixed up with other papers. I guess I can do whatever I want with them. I think I'll put them in a folder or binder and if I make any more ocd papers I can just put them in there. I'm just really confused on how to move forward. Right now, I'm too afraid to use the papers, pencil, or eraser for anything. I feel like I can't write on them, draw on them, or anything. It's even making me feel like I can't make digital art. It's making me feel like I can't do a lot of things. I guess what I have to do is just do whatever I want to, because I know the ocd isn't true and doesn't make sense.
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