- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I think it’s important to consult with your therapist here. But if you’re working through a hierarchy, at some point you’ll be moving into doing those things you’re most scared of.
- Date posted
- 5y
I havent got anything really helpful to say ,, just that we are in the exact same boat. I'm the same with cars and with the fridge and freezer . I can't touch cold things without gloves . I find it hard to move past as I just can't convince myself that there is no real threat .
- Date posted
- 5y
I super struggle with this even being ocd or just being smart. Recently researchers found surface contamination on froze chicken wings shipped from brazil. My immediate reaction was "well DUH". Like I know the cdc has to wait for research but theres some things we can use common sense for. Such as, viruses do well when frozen, there for we should assume you should wash your hands before and after dealing with your freezer. Like I think I would have an easier time trusting the experts if they made sense. And because I feel I cant trust them, it's hard not to go above and beyond or worry a lot.
- Date posted
- 5y
@catattak Exactly, I think the same . For me I feel like it's being smart and safe. I struggle to say/ think that it just my ocd . It a a pandemic and a real threat .. I'm very conflicted
- Date posted
- 5y
@bonjess I'm not sure if I've shared this with you, but this is what I've used to help me with contamination ocd during the pandemic. https://youtu.be/zoXXRRC3opk It makes sense that they use the cdc guidelines to develop a method of ERP. And there are some obvious things I do that are ocd and not pandemic related. Today I was scared to touch a lap desk that's been sitting in my garage for a month. That's ocd and I had to push past that. But there are lots of things I do and fight with my hubby on because he has watched that webinar with me and wants to encourage me to do cdc and no more. But I had an argument with him this weekend about that new research and how the cdc is too lax for me. I explained that I really believe there are additional measures I take that I believe are above the cdc but are reasonable and not just cdc. But theres definite grey area where I just really dont know what's what. And that's the hardest part. Wondering how crazy I actually am.
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you , will watch the video 😊 Before the pandemic I would argue with my head and convince myself that my fears were not real , Now I don't win those arguments . There is no some much contradicting information out there and so much unknown , that's what makes it so hard
- Date posted
- 5y
I guess the idea is sitting with the unknown and remembering nothing is guaranteed but I feel like that's such a blase attitude to take when theres a pandemic.
- Date posted
- 5y
Like that makes sense when I'm battling with myself in a regular cold and flu season, but not during a pandemic
- Date posted
- 5y
@catattak Exactly , I'm with you on that.. When the unknown is a pandemic it is very hard to just sit with it and what will be will be
- Date posted
- 5y
@bonjess It's really comforting to know others are in the same headspace and can see what I'm thinking. Definitely try out that webinar. It's long and of course a bit tough to TOTALLY get on board with but really helpful none the less
- Date posted
- 5y
@catattak Yes I'll check out that webinar 😊 It's just so hard , why did we have to have a bloody pandemic in my life time 🤪
- Date posted
- 5y
@bonjess Hahaha! Every generation needs its traumatic experience. Our grandparents and great grandparents lived through two wars. This is our time to live in hard times.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
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.
- Date posted
- 24w
sorry this is super long i just wanna know if anyone else has been thru something similar bc i feel super alone 🩷 i have super bad contamination ocd. it was bad already but my house was like my safe space until a few months ago someone brought something into my house that i considered ‘contaminated’. and so then i felt like that part of the house was contaminated, then it spread to everything outside my room (since family is moving around touching stuff) and then somehow i got convinced everything in my room except my bed is contaminated and i need to wash my hands after touching it. in my mind its like the contamination just infinitely spreads to things after the tiniest bit of touch. idek what im afraid of anymore or even what the original thing was but i can’t let it go. when i have to wash off contamination i have to wash at least 4 times or until it feels right, or sometimes take rlly long showers and wipe down all my stuff. i even throw away food and clothes or just whole items sometimes because they feel so contaminated i don’t want them in my space. i can’t be super near people or have anyone touch me, and i also can’t bring anything new into my room since it had to go through the entry of my house which feels contaminated. i feel like all i do is lay in bed and then wash my hands and do compulsions so i can go eat or do other stuff around the house. also i never go out because i’m bc people outside make me feel dirty, and i hate thinking about how many people have touched stuff in stores or in public and stuff. so im just in my room worrying all day. i feel so trapped and the contamination/avoiding it is all i think about anymore i barely have time for anything else and im never present when i talk to people because im worrying about if i accidentally got contaminated. im starting erp next week and knowing that im going to have to expose myself to things is really freaking me out. does anyone else have this kind of ocd ? im exhaustedddd 🥲🥲💔
- Date posted
- 23w
This is a repost, only because the last post had no responses lol. Please if you have any advice share. I’ve been trying hard to sit with the feeling of anxiety. Actually that’s the problem, recently I’ve been trying to sit with the thought (and I’m able to for a few hours or until the next morning) and then my anxiety comes back so strong and it’s like I need to clean everything off. I see images of gross laundry getting on everything or my hand and then I need to clean everything off to un contaminate it. Sometimes the thought happens later at night so I just sleep through and the next morning I will wake up with intense anxiety about contamination. That happened yesterday and I had to clean everything off and since then I’ve been traumatized so I’ve been doing compulsions like avoiding the bathroom and being around people so I know I couldn’t have done anything wrong. Actually recently my biggest compulsion has been recording every time I get up to go eat, etc so that I know I couldn’t have done anything. Any advice or help???
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