- Username
- Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
- Username
- adaptocdadaptocd
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I feel like I can relate. I threw out clothes because they felt contaminated with guilt last week. When my mother made a negative comment about my prom dress years ago I almost cut it up. A person I felt discomfort from gave me expensive headphones as a gift and I felt the need to break them and throw them away in secret. If I’ve had feelings or thoughts I feel guilty about I feel like I’ve “contaminated” the relationship I have with a person. When I’m shopping, my thought process makes distorted leaps about why I can or can’t buy something (Ex: This color of shampoo reminds you of a bad event from years ago, so you can’t buy it”) I also experience the need to “fix” a situation if I feel afraid that I’ve caused a specific feeling in someone even if there’s no evidence to ground it. I didn’t recognize this type of issue to be abnormal until I gained more insight into my OCD.
- Username
- Amber Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Omg yes!!!! Someone once gave me a very expensive phone case and I threw it away because there was something about that person I did like. The shampoo example is something I go through, too besides I don’t use a certain brand if I had used it before and something bad happened. All the examples you listed are ones I’ve experienced but in slightly different ways. It’s refreshing to see someone that has it like me because I can’t relate to a lot of people here
- Username
- Amber Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Amber Didn’t*
- Username
- Amber Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Here’s a good article I found on it https://ocdclinicbrisbane.com.au/mental-contamination-2/
- Username
- adaptocdadaptocd
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Amber It’s wild how normalized something will feel to you after you’ve lived a certain way for so long. The more clarity I’ve gained into my OCD, the more of these distortions I’ve recognized. People often don’t talk about the fact that OCD isn’t just a singular obsession in a person, it often manifests in a variety ways at the same time.
- Username
- Amber Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@plathocd Yeah, mine was fairly normal and contained until the pandemic. Idk if cleaning for the virus triggered something in my mind, but my compulsions became 100x worse
- Username
- Nzz Nzz
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Can you explain it a little more? Somethings I used to do for example was if I bought clothes with an ex bf, I couldn’t wear those clothes w someone else. Would the clothes be emotionally contaminated?
- Username
- Amber Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I have the clothes contamination issue as well
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I didn’t know that was a thing until now! I’ve felt that way with clothes I’ve gotten from an ex or clothes I’ve worn for special occasions with my ex. I had to give those clothes away!
- Username
- Nzz Nzz
- Date posted
- 3y ago
^super relatable
- Username
- Amber Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I also have contamination issues with certain names I see. If anyone has a certain name, I’ll treat them differently or try to avoid them. Its based on if I had a bad experience by the person with the same name
- Username
- woeismewoeisme
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I think I might have that, but not to an OCD extent. For example, I used to have 2 separate glasses, one I would wear when I'm indoors and another outdoors, I would never have been able to switch the glasses because I felt that the emotions associated with being indoors and outdoors would "mix" and I felt that being particular about glasses was a way of being "tidy" about my emotions. This probably doesn't make a modicum of sense but it went away eventually so it doesn't matter haha.
- Username
- Amber Amber
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Yes, I have a similar issue, but it’s with my sunglasses. If I wear a certain pair somewhere I feel like something bad will happen. Usually sunglasses feel contaminated based on experiences I’ve had in them. For example, if I was wearing a certain pair around someone I didn’t like, I would wash them and not wear them to go see someone I did like. It’s peculiar and the contamination is based on emotional reason whether than the fear of getting sick
Related posts
- Username
- ambert
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Anyone else with emotional contamination?
- Username
- benno
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Who else on here has contamination OCD it would be awesome to talk to others in the same boat
- Username
- WeepingWillow
- Date posted
- 2y ago
Contamination OCD NOT about germs or chemicals
Just wondering if there are people in this community who are like me and feel contaminated from people but it is NOT about the fear of getting sick nor getting other people sick. It is simply (but debilitatingly) a fear of having the contamination of a stranger's bodily fluid on me e.g oils, sweat, and worse. Although my therapist tells me others have this type, even here contamination OCD seems to always go back to a fear of getting sick or making someone else sick. I am not sure if this could trigger someone so I will add a trigger warning. Thank you all.
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