- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
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.
- Date posted
- 4y
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
- Date posted
- 4y
@Amber Didn’t*
- Date posted
- 4y
Here’s a good article I found on it https://ocdclinicbrisbane.com.au/mental-contamination-2/
- Date posted
- 4y
@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.
- Date posted
- 4y
@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
- Date posted
- 4y
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?
- Date posted
- 4y
I have the clothes contamination issue as well
- Date posted
- 4y
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!
- Date posted
- 4y
^super relatable
- Date posted
- 4y
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
- Date posted
- 4y
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.
- Date posted
- 4y
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
- Date posted
- 24w
back in october i made my first post about my specific type of ocd, how it mixes in with my day to day and how i “deal” with it. i talked about the starting point, how it gradually got worse, and then how it was going just a few months ago. i always think it’s insane how much can change in just the course of a small to a large amount of time. right now, i honestly feel like garbage. to be quite sincere i really want to give up, i’m barely holding on by a thread. and if i cut that thread, i really doubt anyone would care. i’ve never considered myself to be a suicidal person, and i still don’t consider myself that right now. it just gets to a point where it’s just, a lot to deal with. i don’t really enjoy things a lot nowadays. sure i have good days like everyone does, like today, when i was just enjoying my day without worries. but then it all comes crawling back twice as bad the following days. i take online college so i’m usually just stuck at home most of the time. but, when i do decide to actually go out and leave my house, my ocd just explodes because i have this whole routine i need to do or else i feel like i’ll contaminate wherever i end up going. i’m not going to go really deep into my compulsions because it’s hard enough to live with them, much more having to type them all out in detail. but when i go out my compulsions go from wiping down all my stuff i’m going to use after showering, to washing my clothes/cleaning the washer + dryer. i also have separate things (or two of the same thing) i use specifically in my house, and items i use when going out. such as shampoo/body wash, deodorant, lotion, hair curler, etc. as if that’s not draining enough, i also feel the need to fast a couple days prior to any plan i make because i’ve forced myself to believe i need to feel empty in order to be clean. i’m not sure if that’s my past eating disorder talking, or my ocd, but my brain can’t help but think any food in my house is utterly and completely contaminated. i’m so tired of this feeling, feeling like nothing will ever be clean again. feeling like my ocd is trapped in my childhood home. feeling that wave of diseases rushing through my veins the moment i step foot into what’s supposed to be “home”. and i’m so scared of therapy because what if i do get healed, and then everything comes rushing back the second i step into my room. i’m planning on moving somewhere far from my current house in this next coming year, so sometimes i feel like just waiting it out. but it’s insufferable when going to hangout with someone. i miss my friends, my family, and my partner. it’s crazy to me that i’m dealing with all this at the young age of 18 but, i’m sure lots of people have it way worse. i just want to find a way out, any possible way. but i keep pushing myself deeper and deeper that when i finally find a way, it will no longer exist.
- Date posted
- 20w
Recently, I’ve been struggling a ton with what I eat/put into my body? I’m a first year college student with a few different health issues (including IBS), and lately it’s been hard for me to find food on campus that doesn’t upset my stomach. I also have pretty severe emetophobia, and feel extremely anxious when I feel sick. The ironic thing is that being anxious makes me feel even worse, so I end up sticking myself in an impossible loophole. My OCD has taken hold of these fears over the past few months, and it’s been such a struggle. Especially since people have been getting food poisoning from various dining halls on my campus lately. My OCD has gotten so bad that sometimes I’m too afraid to eat food other than what I buy myself. I feel so trapped. I don’t want my OCD to affect my physical health or prevent me from eating, bc I love eating!! It’s the fear of getting sick that’s the problem. And it’s even harder when everything is so unfamiliar. Just wondering if anyone could relate. Advice is appreciated!
- Date posted
- 19w
Does anyone have any tips on how to handle contamination OCD?
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