hi, I’m emily and I’ve been living with ocd for about 2 years now. I’ve always had contamination ocd and always feel like I have to wash my hands after I touch anything. I don’t know how to live life without my hands being clean. For instance, i could eat something and get my hands dirty and I wouldn’t like how they feel. Do u know how to not wash ur hands in this situation? I also just think about my hands throughout the whole day and I just want to live a normal life like a normal person but my ocd is in the way. How do I become normal again?

i feel exactly the same way:(

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 :)

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

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? :)

what’s that @naeun

no I have not done it, do u think I need it? @naeun

I am 15 @naeun

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)

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

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 ‘

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.