- Date posted
- 7y
- Date posted
- 7y
Can you try a different chair for a minute?
- Date posted
- 7y
^like Meg above, I happen to think that is an amazingly opportunity to use this for an exposure. Try it! I’m super excited for you :)
- Date posted
- 7y
d-man that sounds like a really good plan! Tonight before my shower I’m going to try and sit in a contaminated chair for 1 minute :) hopefully I’ll be able to perform an “ultimate boss” ritual in no time! I’m really scared but I know I’ve got the support of this community and I know you guys know exactly what this fear is like. Being able to talk is a complete game changer!! Thanks for the advice Maxie! I use antibacterial spray and hand sanitizer to clean contaminated objects! Thank you guys so much! I hope I can help you like you’ve helped me :) d a i s y
- Date posted
- 7y
Hi d-man! I completely agree :)) I tried sitting on a contaminated surface last night and had to change my clothes straight away because I was so anxious. I’m going to try again this morning with a chair that’s less petrifying. I’ll let you know how it goes! Thanks so much for you support! :) d a i s y
- Date posted
- 7y
You’re so wonderful! I’m so excited to say tonight I managed to put on some pants that I thought were contaminated from a chair. I’ve told myself I’m allowed to cleanse in a few minutes. I didn’t have the best experience with a contaminated t-shirt however, I had to change it and sanitise straight away. I’m happy with the little progress I’ve made though. Any step forward is a good one. Thank you so much for your help and encouragement! Is there anything I could help you with? Thanks again d-man :) d a i s y
- Date posted
- 7y
I have the same thing but i tend to avoid chairs and will only sit on a specific couch on a specific side because noone sits there
- Date posted
- 7y
Me too! I have a section of the couch that no one else is allowed to touch. d a i s y
- Date posted
- 7y
Wow, that’s a lot of chairs.
- Date posted
- 7y
Aw thank you Meg and d-man for thinking of me. This truely is an incredible community. I’m worried when I sit on a contaminated chair that I’ll be contaminated for the rest of the day and unable to touch any “safe” objects without contaminating them. Then I panic I will no longer have any safe places. This is so hard but I’m definitely thinking about it! Thank you so much for your kindness and thoughtfulness. d a i s y
- Date posted
- 7y
I’m so excited :) Aw I hope you’re feeling better soon! I’m always here to help! Let me know how :) Thanks again d-man, you’re so fantastic. d a i s y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 7y
Yeah, I can relate. I am limited too as far as where I can sit. OCD is a bizarre disorder, no doubt!
- Date posted
- 7y
I can relate! contamination ocd is so strong
- Date posted
- 7y
A piece of advice I’d give u so that you dont panic and dont have to avoid maybe social situations, is using anti bacterial wipes or sprays, it’s definitely not a solution but personally it helps me not panic so much about it!
- Date posted
- 7y
You could possibly break down the exposure into steps. If let’s say you can ‘restart’ the contamination by doing certain things like showering, you could first start by sitting in a contaminated chair for x minutes, then taking a shower. Then lengthen that time with each exposure, challenging yourself but not overly so. You can set the exposure of sitting in a contaminated chair and then in a safe chair as an ‘ultimate boss’ exposure, and reward yourself when you eventually work your way up to that level of exposure!
- Date posted
- 7y
Research also shows that holding yourself accountable really helps drive results, so if you don’t mind, you could update us on how you’re going with it :) no pressure!
- Date posted
- 7y
Sounds great! Keep breaking down the steps till it’s manageable... even 15 or 30 second progressions matter! Hang in there :)
- Date posted
- 7y
Oh boy, that’s awesome! Yes you’ve got a clear path of progression. Now it’s breathing easy and taking it gradually. Super happy for you :) I’m not sure. A little in the doldrums, but that’s life isn’t it!
- Date posted
- 7y
It sure is! I’m sitting on one of my “safe” chairs as we speak haha. Oh well, we’re gonna get through this. d a i s y
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w
So I have pretty intense contamination OCD tied to Moral/Real event OCD, and I'm having a hard time with it because part of me does genuinely believe my logic checks out, and I was hoping to get some insight as to how to change the way I see it from other people who sort of get the mindset involved :). To sum it up as well as I can, I basically have a very souped-up version of the same item-event association most people have. For example, let's say you have a HORRIBLE, GOD AWFUL relationship with a person you can't even begin to think of favorably even years after the event. They had gotten you a stuffed animal for your anniversary at some point. You finally "escape" the relationship, and you throw away the stuffed animal. This is seen as a very normal and sound-of-mind action. Here's where things get tricky: For me, throwing out that stuffed animal wouldn't be enough. After all, it touched my table didn't it? And my table touched the floor right? And these things now carry that person's germs. And if I don't get rid of them, then they'll infect my future belongings. This logic isn't entirely flawed either, as even my OCD specialist said he believes in a "weaker version of what I do". How am I supposed to convince myself that what I'm believing is false when the literal psychologist confirmed that what I'm doing is just a more in-depth version of a normal experience? Ex: I have a new outfit, fresh and clean. I'm unbothered and happy, but I knick the side of a table. The table holds awful associations. I get this awful sense of dread. The clothes are now somewhat sullied, and I'll eventually have to give them away. I don't think I'm explaining this as well as I could, but I feel like those notions are there. Anyways, does anyone have any insight as to how to get my mind to genuinely believe that interacting with these things is "safe"?
- 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.
- Date posted
- 18w
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 🥲🥲💔
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