Question: has anyone ever retrieved something from a public garbage? I did and feel like a waking germ. I did, my jacket touched the garbage. ? Got home and jacket touched other clothes. Panic. Mode.

I struggle from that type of ocd. If me or my clothes touched something I feel is contaminated and i or my clothes touches something then I think I’ve just contaminated whatever’s been touched as well. It’s horrible

Hi jessel38, we suck! Lol. Can you believe I washed my jacket and am continuing to wear it? Every ounce of me wants to throw it out. However the rest of the clothes which the jacket touched is my issue. And the thoughts lingering of what germs lurked in the Walmart garbage lol! Thankfully it was early in the day so not much was in there.

This is tough. For those who successfully beat contamination ocd what are some tips to rationalize that contamination doesn’t spread like wildfire that way. This is also my issue.

@Lark I think the best way is to do what someone else said on this app, contaminate everything. I find that OCD rarely responds to rationalization, exposure therapy is the way to go. :)

Hey lark I’ve seen you on other posts we are very similar in ocd tendencies

Contaminate it all oh boy this thought alone is making me very very very anxious! But maybe that’s the point.

No doubt about it. I still feel awful thinking about contaminating everything, but it has happened to me in the past. It turns out that I couldn’t distinguish what I touched and didn’t touch, so I had to adapt and accept it.

Though I have to say instances when I have already touched something that I cannot “de contaminate” then I have less OCD. It’s when the item can be wiped and washed that’s a challenge because I fall for the compulsion so I see the point. If something is already contaminated or cannot be “de contaminated” then it leads to less OCD. It’s a long way to go but I’m trying this and hopefully will get to a better place than utmost contamination that I’m going through.

Yup lol, same problem for me. The hardest part is getting started. Usually I just get so frustrated that I just go ahead and do it anyways and stop caring about the consequences.

That’s ocd for you katee always the worst outcome. For me even if it’s not diseasese it just gross me out knowing I saw blood in a public bathroom. Or even if I just almost walked into stall that had blood in the toilet it’s enough to set me off and I can’t see myself allowing everything I own to be contaminated by someone’s bodily fluid since it’s just too grosss.

Yes! Hopefully we can make some small progress soon

Yes we do! Lol. Most of the time I’ll throw my clothes away rather than wash them. I’ve probably thrown thousands of dollars worth of clothes and shoes. It really sucks.

Jessel38. Lol I want to throw out my new jacket so bad. And it touched other clothes and I want them gone too. Thankfully I have a spouse who tells me to chill so I haven’t .....yet.