- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
i feel exactly the same way:(
- Date posted
- 6y
I also struggle with contamination ocd but I try to resist the urge of washing my hands by thinking about how I never used to wash my hands this much before all of this started, and nothing bad happened so why would it now - and I keep thinking about that and try to distract myself until the anxiety fades a bit. It’s hard and it doesn’t always work but it’s a great feeling that you get after you feel you have combatted a compulsion even if it’s just once . I hope this helps :)
- Date posted
- 6y
yeah i have tried to not wash my hands but i still don’t like how my hands feel and I just can’t move on with my daily life without washing them. It feels easier to just wash them and then not have to think about it the rest of the day rather than having them dirty and obsessing over it the rest of the day. @s0ph
- Date posted
- 6y
I know that feeling :( the only thing I could suggest is forcing yourself to do it, obviously you’re going to be incredibly anxious, but sometimes when I’m feeling less anxious than others, I almost play on the ocd, by like touching something when my hands feel dirty and then be kind of like oh well the germs are already out there now so there’s nothing I can do about it, if you get what I mean? :)
- Date posted
- 6y
what’s that @naeun
- Date posted
- 6y
no I have not done it, do u think I need it? @naeun
- Date posted
- 6y
I am 15 @naeun
- Date posted
- 6y
Hey @Emily25. Just want to let you know you’re not alone. I’m 15 as well and have had contamination OCD like yours for about 3 years. Also, normal is entirely overrated. Average won’t get you far (but I completely understand what you mean and what I said is extraordinary cheesy)
- Date posted
- 6y
I just don’t know how to not wash my hands after I eat something. I watch other people do it and wonder how. I hate the way my hands feel after I eat something and I guess it’s normal to not wash them. So what do I do? @sarai
- Date posted
- 6y
The only thing I can suggest is to just try to put up with the uncomfortable feeling for as long as possible, then try to grow on that time. If that’s 30 seconds, not a problem, because later you can do 1 minute. This is pretty much ERP. It feels a bit counterintuitive and painful, but it’s one of the few ways to practice being ‘normal ‘
- Date posted
- 6y
Normal doesn’t exist. See what the worst thing that’s going to happen would be if you didn’t use hand sanitizer and I’m sure you’ll be okay.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
i have contamination ocd and i have a hard time knowing what’s normal- please help me get back to normal!! do you worry or clean under your fingernails when you wash your hands? do you specifically wash your thumb? if so how? do you pay attention to the pace you wash your hands at? do you ever feel the need to do things a certain amount of times or count while doing things? in the shower do you wash your hands at any time? especially after washing private areas? question for the girls!! how many times do you wipe after you pee? how do you all pee so fast?
- Date posted
- 22w
I obsess constantly about my hands being dirty and feel like I can actually see the germs and bacteria crawling all over my hands if I can’t wash them as soon as I touch something. It’s really embarrassing since people in my life have noticed this “weird” behavior but it’s a huge problem for me and I don’t know how to make the obsessive thoughts stop.
- Date posted
- 21w
(long read ahead, sorry lol) I’ve struggled with ocd for as far back as I can remember. I find that it gets worse with stress, and recently I’ve really been struggling with the contamination aspect of my ocd. I’m worried about it becoming unmanageable and negatively affecting my relationship with my partner. I’ve been living with my boyfriend since January (got kicked out of my house a week after I turned 18, it’s for the better though my house is toxic as hell) and I love living with him, but him and his family aren’t as concerned with cleaning as I am used to. My boyfriend and I have been together going on 2 years and there’s been many times throughout our relationship that his struggle with depression severely impacted his ability to keep up with cleaning his room. This is something I completely understand because I’ve struggled with it too so i’ve often helped him clean, and since i’ve moved in he’s done so much better at keeping up with cleaning (especially because he knows about my issues with clutter, mess, germs, etc.) He is really good at being accommodating towards my needs (not overly so, i’m aware that recovering includes accepting being uncomfortable), but it’s so hard for me to differentiate between what is the normal standard for cleanliness and hygiene and what’s excessive and unhealthy. I get so stressed out every single day over the thought of how dirty everything is. He has 3 cats that mainly stay in his room (he has a catio attached to his window/side of the house) and dogs which stay on the opposite side of the house and backyard, so there is fur everywhere constantly (i’m also allergic to cats but it’s not severe). I can’t stop thinking about how they are getting germs from their litter box all over everything. They also used to piss under his bed and in his closet when his room used to be a mess and it’s soaked into the floor so no matter what it stinks. It’s so hard to bring myself to walk around the house without slippers because my feet will get visibly dirty and my socks would get covered in hair. I always think about how my boyfriend sometimes walks on the rugs in the bathroom in shoes and all the germs that spreads. There’s so many more things but this is already getting long and I am shaking just thinking about how unclean everything is. I want to deep clean the entire house myself so I can get it to where It’s not like psychological torture everyday and it’s easier to maintain but I have been so busy I don’t have the time. I am worried about my boyfriend thinking I don’t like living with him or that I think that’s he’s dirty but i don’t. We have had several conversations about this and he’s reassured me that he knows none of my obsessive thoughts are personal but I still feel so bad about it. I would like to get therapy to help work through this but currently that is not an option for me. I know things will get better once I get through the main things in my life that are causing a lot of stress and therefore making my ocd flair up, but I need advice on what to do in the mean time. I keep having moments where all I can do is shake and cry and clean and I feel bad for my poor boyfriend who can only sit next to me and try to comfort me or help me clean. I also don’t want to make him worried that nothing he does is enough for me (i’ve also already talked to him about this and told him about how I can never even be clean enough for myself and that I don’t think he’s dirty). There’s been many times where I want to tell him to do things that I think might be my own unhealthy compulsions (ex. not wearing shoes in the house or in our room, not getting into bed with socks on, making sure to completely dry off before getting out the shower, put makeup and jewelry back where they belong right after using them, etc.) but i can’t tell if they’re reasonable or not and i try to not tell him unless it’s something that severely distresses me. I’m aware that everything is going to have germs no matter what and have been using NER’s to help manage my thought spirals/rumination. I know that I shouldn’t keep doing compulsions because it just offers temporary relief and makes the problem worse because nothing will ever be enough. I just feeling so overwhelmed and hopeless and exhausted and want some feedback.
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