- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I struggle with contamination ocd too so let me tell you what works for me. It may not work for you but it’s worth a shot. So when I start to get in a rut like you are now I like to do one of two things. The first thing I like to do is try and think about it logically. Did I actually touch the thing or did my intrusive thought just tell me I did. I think think about the fact that since touching that item I’ve showered and cleaned and done other stuff and physically I am fine. Chances are you have showered since febuary which uses your water tank and you are just fine. You have also worn clothes and been okay along with other activities of daily life. If you want to go the more ERP route try accepting the anxiety a little more. Tell yourself okay maybe the roundup got on my clothes/belongings/etc. and that might harm me and then move on. I’ve found this works particularly well with some of the germ contamination I struggle with but I have also used it with other things. I hope this helps some
- Date posted
- 5y
I Appreciate the feedback, but trying to reason with it in my head makes my anxiety worse. Secondly, the erp seems a little challenging. I can’t help but think about the long term exposure to roundup exposure.
- Date posted
- 5y
@HellofaJR ERP is very challenging. When I first started it was very difficult but the more I’ve done it the easier it has gotten. It has never really been “easy” to do but it has helped me tremendously with being able to better control and deal with my ocd. It may not work for you, different things work for different people. I hope you find what works for you soon
- Date posted
- 5y
@Erin12 I always prefer using my camera to capture my every movement. So that way I can review what I did without having the possible intrusive thought.
- Date posted
- 5y
@HellofaJR That’s a good idea! Just don’t let it turn into something compulsively that’s you have to do
- Date posted
- 5y
@Erin12 Oh shit. I’ll make sure
- Date posted
- 5y
I hahe contamination ocd too. It is exhausting. I know your pain and struggle. If you would like, we can always chat through insta or iMessage and I can try and help you! Or at least relate to you and help you feel understood.
Related posts
- 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???
- Date posted
- 21w
This is a long one lol but basically, a couple of weeks ago I went to the toilet (#2, sorry for the tmi). Let's just say it was messy. I remember that a speck of.. #2.. Fell off the piece of toilet paper. This was probably the worst thing that could ever happen. I can't remember clearly but I'm pretty sure my jeans were on the floor underneath near where the speck could have fallen. There was also a towel. I don't know exactly where it fell as it was so small, but I made sure both the towel and the jeans went in the laundry basket and I cleaned the floor near there. Fast forward to like the next day. My mum does most of the laundry, so she will have picked up all the towels and clothes from the laundry basket and taken them to the wash. The problem is the speck. I don't know where it went but if it was on the towel and she picked it up.... Thus, contaminated mum. And she also puts clothes away that are dry. I remember that day she put my hoodie in my wardrobe, and I haven't worn it since because I feel it is contaminated. I haven't worn the clothes that have touched the hoodie. This leaves me with not a lot of clothes. And today I finally snapped and picked up a sweatshirt that had maybe touched the hoodie. And now I'm just sat here spiralling, wearing it. What if it touched the speck? What if the speck touched my mum and then touched the hoodie which then touched the sweatshirt I'm wearing? Please I'm so scared.
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