- Date posted
- 6y ago
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Thanks guys, I thought I was going crazy. I’m gonna try to just ignore that feeling of washing them push through. It seems like if I touch something that I feel is dirty and feel the need to wash my hands, if I get distracted or wait like 5 min, I sometimes can’t remember what I was worried about and move on without washing. But then next obsession starts?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Hi there, I am sorry that you're struggling with this. I also am having trouble with hand washing now. From what I have been learning in therapy it's best to practice Exposure Response Prevention. Try to start with noticing when you feel the "impulse" to wash, notice the thoughts associated with the fear and resist performing the compulsion (hand washing). Stopping compulsions is the key to beating OCD. There is also such a thing as mental compulsions such as mentally reviewing a situation (it's a form of checking). You can do this! I need to follow this myself..
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Thank you. I’m going to try this and hope I improve!
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Thank you gardengoddess. I will try this for sure. I think i maybe slowly improving but still have much not progress to make.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Hi, I have this problem too. I managed to (sort of) get it under control by postponing washing my hands each time I had the compulsion. If my OCD was telling me to wash my hands, I would set a timer (usually for 20-30 minutes). When the timer was finished, I was allowed to wash my hands. Over time you can increase the time on the timer. When I started using this technique I could only postpone for one minute but it does get better if you persist with it although I do understand that it is difficult. I hope that makes sense. Good luck! ?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Lil Z, you are not going crazy. You can rest assured about that. Although I can definitely relate to the worry about "am I going crazy"? That worry alone can be apart of OCD, and increases anxiety. It sounds like you're building some great skills for yourself with your OCD! Great job keep it up! I understand what you are experiencing. The idea with exposure response prevention is not to ignore the feeling that results when we are facing an obsession (such as feeling the need to wash our hands in response to a fear -usually sparked by an intrusive thought). I think what you're doing is GREAT!! Going forward, I recommend allowing and accepting yourself to feel the feeling you are feeling such as anxiety, etc whatever the feeling is that arises from not washing your hands, sit with it. Allow it to be present without obeying what it is compelling you to do (wash hands). As you practice this over time, the compelling need to hand wash should dissipate. Go you!! The idea is to sit with the feeling, not push it away. Delaying the hand washing until the need disappears can help too!!
- Date posted
- 6y ago
You're welcome, I hope it's helpful. I definitely understand how hard OCD is. I've just been learning about my OCD more recently and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I’ve just started doing this worse than I ever have before and it’s caused my hands to be red and dry and painful. I haven’t found anything to help me at this point in time unfortunately, I just want you to know you aren’t alone I’m dealing with this. ♥️
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I hope it goes well!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w ago
I have contamination OCD that causes me to excessively wash my hands/clean items with disinfectant wipes. I know I just need to start with small exposures but how do I do that without spiraling? I tried a while back by just touching the outside of my dishwasher and not washing my hands after and it led to me being unable to even exist in my house. I basically lived on my couch for three weeks as it was the only 'safe' space that I had not touched with my dirty hands. I had to take a week off work to clean my house to make it somewhat liveable. I still haven't got round to cleaning everything though so things like my kitchen are still no-go zones that I don't enter. I just don't know how to start ERP without it making everything worse. Any advice would be appreciated. I am not seeing a therapist at the moment due to financial constraints.
- Date posted
- 18w ago
Dose anyone else experience that your OCD calms down and goes to the back of your mind during- feels almost safe and unaware of it but as soon as it's over and youve calmed down all the intrusive thoughts come rushing back 10x worse? I've had really awful panic attacks because of it the past two nights and it's exhausting I haven't been with another person in over a year because of how bad it was after and not being able to explain it properly to partners "no I'm not crying because of you" "no you didn't do anything wrong" I feel insane- like I'll never be able to have a normal functioning sexual time alone or with others do to it the compulsions that come with it are exhausting it's like the need to cleanse myself of filth like I'm disgusting and horrible until there's no traces I did anything in the first place I'm just so tired dose anyone have any tips of how to work through this- or at least be able to enjoy myself without crying afterwords? I have no idea what subtype this would even entail? I'm going to go with contamination I guess ?
- Date posted
- 12w ago
I started dealing with OCD when I became fixated on health issues, particularly the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease. If I experienced any kind of medical symptom, no matter how small, that even remotely hinted at something potentially fatal, it would drive me crazy, and I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Then one day, I started having intrusive thoughts about accidentally hitting someone with my car, and I would end up driving in circles to check if I had. Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of new obsessive thoughts and compulsions. One day, while I was at the park, a squirrel came near me, and for some reason, I felt like it attacked me. I Googled it and learned that squirrels could carry rabies, which spiraled me into a deep fear of rabies. I became consumed with the thought I received a bite from a squirrel, raccoon, or bat any time I’m in areas that trigger me. It started off only being inside then transferred to even being in my own home. This made me obsess over every physical sensation in my body, compulsively checking to make sure nothing was wrong. One compulsion that I hated the most would to be putting rubbing alcohol on me to make sure that I had no open wounds. Every day feels like I’m walking around in a fog of anxiety, constantly worrying that I won’t even make it to old age. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that I just want it all to end. It stresses me so bad at times to where my brain feels like I’ve been studying all day.
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