- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Hello! Fellow nurse here. There’s at least 2 other nurses who use this app on here! There is no quick and easy answer. My contamination OCD decided to focus on the fear of giving my patients sepsis. Is your fear is getting or giving germs? What has worked for me had been finding a medication combination that works for me 200mg sertaline + 2mg aripiparazole and lots of therapy. Scripting in particular helped me. Also watching videos as exposure.
- Date posted
- 6y
That’s tough. Nurses have a tough job. Have you spoken to anyone about it?
- Date posted
- 6y
What are your triggers and compulsions? As a nurse I’m sure hand washing is tough as it’s already oftentimes necessary. Hang in there!
- Date posted
- 6y
Mine are both, giving (to my family) and (me) getting germs. It is very frustrating. I feel "infected" whenever I see my hepatitis B and C patient. Everything about them including blood is my trigger. I try to avoid them as much as possible. This is sad. It happened after my ward full of hepatitis C patients. It is kind of traumatic. Anyway, thank you guys for supports. I'll try my best.
- Date posted
- 6y
You must stop avoiding them. This is a compulsion. If this is too hard right now, try imaginal exposure. The good news is the Hep C is now curable through medication. Additionally, you are probably vaccinated against Hep B as a healthcare worker. A script could go like this: I am afraid I could be exposed to Hepatitis at the hospital despite taking standard precautions and become infected. If this happened, I would be horrified and feel like [insert feelings here]. If I became infected I could accidentally infect my family members and I would feel so guilty. [Insert additional catastrophic thoughts here]. Ex: I would be resistant to treatment and die a prolonged death from liver failure. Despite these concerns, I must accept the uncertainty and act according the facts and not because of my fears. Record the script on the loop player and listen to it until it no longer triggers you.
- Date posted
- 6y
Yes
- Date posted
- 6y
Well, nurse has something to do with patient, right? From IV to intubation assistance, it is for me very painful that I cannot perform what I used to do. It is a nightmare everytime when you have to think whether you will be infected after procedure or patients are hepatitis positive or not. It is really disturbing.
- Date posted
- 5y
This is my life!
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you, worried driver. Thanks and thanks again.
- Date posted
- 6y
Wow, it occurred to me before to be a nurse but I did not due to the germ aspect/did not want to touch anyone. Were you recently diagnosed?
- Date posted
- 6y
Was it a recent diagnosis?
- Date posted
- 6y
By a psychiatrist, yeab
- Date posted
- 6y
Wait sorry, brain fart. I am curious, how much does it interfere with your ability to get to your job?
- Date posted
- 6y
Holy crap. I have contamination fears that I have worked on when they originated from 1992. I cannot imagine what your going through. Have you been advised to go though CBT or ERP therapy?
- Date posted
- 6y
I have tried ERP recently. Is it gonna be helpful? My psychiatrist said it takes time you have to bear with it.
- Date posted
- 6y
I am actually a psychology major for my masters and studying theories of therapy. It has great research behind it. I have been practicing on my own in small spurts and am having success.
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you, rachel1979
- Date posted
- 6y
I am currently having a lot of problems not with contamination but with checking rituals. A lot. And realized today that I missed my doctors appt. For meds last month. Thank God the nurse practitioner can get me in today for my meds.
- Date posted
- 5y
Is anyone on this thread still here? I am also a nurse with contamination OCD.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
I’m so scared. Part of me feels ok and part of me feels like I need to clean everything off. Basically my sweater had a stain on it from food it was newly washed but I decided to throw it in the wash again. While throwing it in the laundry basket I noticed a specific type of clothing that scares me. I quickly put the sweater on top of the used laundry and left. My phone was in the living room and I’m pretty constantly scared it will get contaminated by laundry I’m not sure why but that fear started randomly. Anyway I had to walk past the living room to wash my hands in the kitchen because someone had to use the bathroom badly and was waiting for me to just throw my laundry in to go to the bathroom. Anyway I’m scared I went near my phone or contaminated it with my hands. I can’t remember the details fully either but I just remember walking straight to the kitchen but I don’t know. I’m really scared and I want to clean everything like my phone and everything it was near. The thing is my fear is real because used laundry is so gross. What do I do? When throwing clean laundry in a basket should you wash your hands? Do most people? Even if the article of clothing isn’t dirty? Because maybe my hands accidentally went near the actual gross laundry I don’t know
- Date posted
- 21w
I’ve been my job for almost 2 years now and I can not shake the constant worry that I am going to do something to mess it up. I’m constantly checking things over and over to make sure they’re correct to the point where I almost don’t believe my own eyes anymore. Everyday I go home with something to be anxious about. Today me and a coworker got in a bit of a tiff and I can’t stop thinking about it (even though I was totally right to be upset 🤣) everyday I play out fake scenarios that may happen because of what I said or did. Occasionally I will worry if I had written something inappropriate on the work I turn in. There’s no amount of reassurance that can make me stop worrying and I’m not sure what to do anymore. I’m new here and would love some suggestions!
- Date posted
- 19w
Do any of you avoid cleaning because it makes you more anxious? I haven’t worn any makeup on in awhile except for my eyelashes and lipgloss , but after keeping them in my makeup bag for too long I get scared. I dropped these Bobby pins on the floor the other day in my bathroom and mind u I haven’t done a full bathroom clean since I left for Florida on the 6th and I came back the 13th. The Bobby pins were still clipped on the paper package (if that makes sense) and I didn’t touch the floor fully but the side of my finger touched the floor. I don’t think I immediately washed my hands after but eventually I did. I ended up getting some lipliner from my makeup bag and I purposely didn’t overwash my hands bc I’m trying to be better about not excessively washing them. I feel like touching the floor and not washing my hands right away caused a flare up. I do wanna put on a full face of makeup but I’m scared that I’ll get a wart or an infection on my face. I know I’ve talked about this numerous amounts of times but I had a wart the first week of February and sometimes I feel like the virus is still on the floor. I haven’t soft scrubbed the floor but I’ve used a lot of Clorox wipes to wipe the floor. Like I said though, I haven’t washed my floors since Florida and I think it’s just anxiety. I’m trying to let my mind settle and doing the “maybe or maybe not methods.” I just feel like that wart on my foot traumatized me. I wanna empty all my makeup out … like all the brushes and even the bag. I know it’s such a waste of money but there are times I’ll go buy the same makeup brushes bc I’m scared to get it contaminated. Ugh and when I fo go out and buy them my ocd kinda flares bc then it’s saying “maybe someone returned this makeup brush and used it and your gonna get a wart that way too.” 😣 It’s like I can’t win. And then I think to myself, “am I gonna get punished or will something happen to me if I do get a new brush?” 😞 it’s very exhausting! Please any advice would help!
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond