kkdan
- Date posted
- 6y
Shana0007Shana0007
- Date posted
- 6y
I wanted to be a nurse at one time but I couldn’t because of my contamination ocd. I was in school but when I did a clinical at the hospital that’s when I realized there’s no way I could do it which really sucks because I’m having a hard time figuring out what I want for a career. Ocd gets in the way a lot of the time..So I’d love to know the answer to this question as well if there is anyone on here!
WorriedDriverWorriedDriver
- Date posted
- 6y
?♀️ yes there is at least me and one other nurse on this app. I did not start with contamination OCD, only you harm and then POCD, and then lastly I developed contamination. When I developed contamination it took me completely by surprise because I hadn’t had an issue with germs before. I basically had a meltdown slowly through half of 2018 and ended up having to quit my job for a while and was seeing a BUNCH of therapists. What actually worked best was getting my meds changed and then slowly re- engaging in my work. I still go to therapy 2x/ week. Everyday is a constant exposure and I choose 1-2 things to work on at a time. I am currently working on my fear of contaminating the IV. It helps most of my fear is of me making others sick, not myself
kkdankkdan
- Date posted
- 6y
Thanks for the responses! I have been a nurse for 3 1/2 years. I never had contamination ocd until my nursing career. I did have POCD/sexual thought ocd years ago, which got better! Anyway, my contamination ocd got to the point where I quit my job. My last day of work was 12/15. I’ve been trying to find jobs since then in healthcare/nursing that are more behind the scenes. No luck yet! I also just started therapy for the contamination ocd last week. Hoping to get help. WorriedDriver, you sound like me! Other than the fact that I fear I will get a disease vs making others sick.
WorriedDriverWorriedDriver
- Date posted
- 6y
Some advice I got was go move to an area with less broad scope of practice ex: OR, psych, procedural area so that there are fewer variety of tasks and it’s easier to do ERP. I also take 200mg sertraline and 2mg of Abilify (started getting really depressed) and the combo has allowed me to get the OCD under control. I also switched units which helped because my old unit really triggered a lot of my OCD thoughts just because of bad memories of having so much panic about contamination there
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Anonymous
- Date posted
- 23w
Tw/ Contamination ocd
Hello, i have very severe contamination ocd, and as i am writing this i feel my hands are dirty lol, but anyways i wanted to know if there’s anyone specialised in Contamination ocd? No matter what type because i really need help and i looked up things but it doesn’t help please!!
bun <3
- Date posted
- 23w
everything around me feels contaminated :((
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 🥲🥲💔
JCTC
- Date posted
- 20w
Help with Contamination OCD
Does anyone have any tips that helped them? Mine is due to a specific person and I work with them so it’s been really difficult. I’ve started ERP which has been reaaalllllly challenging and I would love to hear from anyone else that has gone through any type of contamination ocd and how they have overcome or are fighting their way through it. Thank you!l
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