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Does anyone have any tips for managing the feeling of grossness when trying not to clean (exposure)?

I’m pretty hopeless right now. I’ve been hyperaware of swallowing and saliva everyday for a month and a half. I’m trying to accept it but I can only make it a few days at best. I’m considering meds again after I just got off. Can anyone give me some hope? Even if I could accept I feel it would take so long to get results id never make it

i hit one year with my partner and i’ve just been so anxious. whenever i experience a new thing i start doubting and overthinking over what i could mean and if i really like him. i’m so terrified that it’s not rocd and that i’ll wake up one day and not like him :( and all these unanswered feelings/questions don’t help how i feel and i don’t understand them or know what to do because i can’t get into therapy

I am currently engaged to my best friend who is in the Air Force and stationed all the way in Japan (I’m in the US). He will be getting stationed back in the states in about 5 months where I plan to move with him and eventually we will be getting married. However, since about a month ago, I randomly began having intrusive thoughts that I don’t actually love him, I’m not attracted to him, I’ll be unhappy if I move with him and marry him. Obviously this is very upsetting to me because he’s been the center of my world for the past two years and we’ve made all of these huge plans. I do have brief moments of clarity where I feel happy and sure of us, but then just as quickly as that comes, the intrusive thoughts are back. I’ve been so upset by these thoughts and the possibility of them being true that I have barely been able to function normally. I even got put on Zoloft this past week to try to cope. I can’t imagine not being with him, but these thoughts are telling me that everything is wrong, which results in me constantly trying to check my feelings with him while we are on FaceTime or texting, and constantly looking at photos of us from when he’s visited. I don’t know if this is because of the distance between us or if I’m nervous about the future, but it’s getting very hard to deal with.

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.

I just told my son in law how much it hurts me when he treats my daughter badly. I made sure I said it hurts me. Now I am worried I may have done it wrong. I go over and over conversations in my mind wanting reassurance . Realizing reassurance feeling is temporary and I am feeding my OCD. Is that what Exposure and Response Prevention is about?

Today I've been on another therapy and we talked about this topic as well... I am not diagnosed with OCD and we don't call it that on therapies, but I believe I've had Health, Harm and now my main are SO-OCD and ROCD thoughts. I wanted to share what we talked about, because it might help a little and I will try to go by this to lead a happier life and finally enjoy my present with my precious boyfriend... My main insecurity is that I tend to compare myself with other girls a lot and then my mind starts yelling that I like them. NEVER in my life I was interested in girls or questioned my sexuality (I am 25 and this topic started 6 months ago), so when it gets hardest, I always try to rememeber "My mind had different topics before and this all started when I was worried about my love for my boyfriend". I also told him this and he said that it was pretty logical and was proud of me to aknowledge this. He then gave me tips on the intrusive thoughts. He said it wouldn't be easy, but when I get the thought, I should try to: 1. Aknowledge it's just a silly thought 2. Say STOP to ruminating, because when you analyze the thought it just gets worse and worse and can come with feelings! I know it because I am at the phase where I am already tired to get disgusted by the thoughts and my brain starts to panic, that I like it which is NO NO for me. 😅 (Also when I read something bad, it sticks longer than the good stuff) 3. Immediately engage in some activity where you won't be able to think about the thought. It wouldn't help if you just lie down and stare into space, because the thoughts will get their focus! 4. Stop looking for reassurance. He asked me if I had something that helped and I said yes, but the intervals were still shorter and shorter, so he said I should make myself stop looking for it, because it works once and then it backstabs the second time. Unfortunately it's hard, but it's true. Another thing we talked about and what we all (my therapist, me, my boyfriend, sister, mother) know is that the key to my problem is that I am just insecure about my looks. I can't count how many times I've cried that I hate myself or wanted to disappear when there was a prettier girl near me on celebration or just in a shop. I always went for long shirts and hoodies to look more cute, but when I wear it now I just feel big, baggya and disgusting. My therapist mentioned that I might have just tried to hide myself. (Since I was young I always listened how tall I am and who I am taking after. Also my friend at high school laughed at me that I have big breast and if I can see my toes through them, so I hate them and always wished to have them smaller.) Then he suggested that I could try experimenting with mirror self therapy. That I should try wearing more girly clothes, focus on my insecure parts and try to dress in something sexier, if I find myself comfortable enough. I might cry, I might detest myself sometimes, but the goal is to feel more confident, wear clothes I would be comfortable in and also to reduce the comparison that when I meet nicely dressed girl, I would take it more as an inspiration or just reduce my panic that I want to disappear or hide. It might also reduce my social anxiety, because the problems are close to each other as well. The last thing. When I was motivated enough, I made a goal on my ToDo list to "Dress up more as a girl", so he suggested I take it as "Dress up more as a girl that I find myself more girly naturally" if it makes sense. 😇 So in the end I will believe this: 1. Heterosexuality doesn't change and is predetermined before birth. 2. Love is a choice more than a feeling. You choose whom you love. 3. You don't need to love yourself all the time, but at least sometimes you should get the feeling that you love who you are. Find your strengths. 4. Everyone is different, don't let others define you or make you feel miserable.

I’m on my second day of Zoloft how has other peoples experiences been?

so i’m only 18 and my bf and i are going to college together. i used to have a lot of fun when i was single but i always wanted a bf. he’s my best friend and makes me laugh like no one else can. i love him so much. but sometimes i get thoughts that i rather be single and i’m missing out on life and i’m settling and that there’s someone more fun or more this or that. is this part of rOCD? the thoughts make me feel anxious and sad because i when im level headed i feel so much love for him but then when i can’t feel that emotion other thoughts come in and say that id have a better life marrying someone else. i think it’s because im young so i worry im forcing something by us going to the same college but i also know i would be devastated leaving him. it’s so confusing. any thoughts or tips on how to calm this?

I just finished my FIRST football practice and it was full of embarrassment and failure. I didn’t catch one ball and couldn’t do any of the footwork drills or sharp cuts. The coaches kept telling me that I would get it eventually and I could tell they were trying to be nice since it’s my first day. At first I didn’t think much of my performance but now it’s fully kicked in and I feel terrible. Any tips or just ANYTHING that can push me to move forward? People who play any sport...

I am 7 weeks postpartum and my OCD has been awful since the baby was about a week old. I am currently seeing a therapist that specializes in perinatal mood disorders. She gave me a paper titled the 4 steps in the self treatment of OCD. Relabel, reattribute, refocus, and revalue written by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz. Has anyone tried this? I know that ERP is the standard but wanted to see if this was effective.

Hi guys, my ocd is starting to become disabling for me, everything I used to love to do now brings me into the most panic, driving, even just being in the car with someone, going out to events, socializing, working all of these things bring me into 10/10 anxiety and it’s really just coming at me in every direction of my life & my feelings are just crushed because this is not how I like living, I used to be the social butterfly with so much energy now I’m just irritated & mean all the time ):, I used to love late night drives/rides, when I have convos with people I can feel my anxiety rise, when I’m in a crowd I feel my anxiety rise really just most everything gives me so much anxiety now & I can’t understand ):

My problem is that my OCD can and sometimes do come true. I'm obsessed about my sleep. I'm constantly afraid of not getting to sleep at night. I go to bed as someone who's going under a surgery. I always think I'm improving. I get to sleep and thus, get less anxious. That makes it easier to sleep the next night and so it goes. However, some nights, like last one, I fail to sleep, and I find myself back at square one. I feel like the entire world slept last night but me. Not only that, I also feel like I havent slept for weeks, even though I was sleeping just fine the last 10 days. I feel like I will never sleep again

Im feeling tense bc I’ve never been with anyone other than my bf and we plan on getting married etc. feeling like I need to go out and do something but that’s so scary to me. Im afraid that im depending on someone else to make me feel better in my relationship other than my partner. Idk im scared it means im not actually satisfied in my relationship or something or that it was bad that I decided to be with one and one person only

I often struggle with intrusive thoughts related to not being a bad person, what if I have low empathy, what if I’m just pretending to care about others, etc. I worry that doing exposures for these thoughts/this theme could make me use OCD as an excuse not to be accountable for my actions if I hurt someone/do something terrible. How do I navigate this when doing exposures?

Hey everyone- I’ve had OCD since I was 7 or 8 (I’m 25 now) but I’ve been in recovery the last three years. Two weeks though, I moved to an apartment by myself and I’ve been triggered by babysitting my baby niece (first time babysitting her). I struggled with POCD in high school but haven’t dealt with it in 6 years. I’ve had some triggers come up here and there the last few months but nothing major and most of them deal with other ocd themes (HOCD, ROCD, health OCD, etc.. However a few days ago, I was changing my niece’s diaper and I had to put diaper rash cream on her. Hours later, I’m ruminating over if I touched her inappropriately. I got past it within an hour but it honestly broke me. I hadn’t had an ocd episode in so long that it completely blindsided me. Today, I was helping my mom give her a bath and her private area is at my eye level (I’m on my knees helping bathe her) I start looking at her private areas (not in I think a sexual way) but more of a scientific way of trying to see what it looks like on a baby. (I never had a younger sibling and am not around babies often) Of course in the back of my mind I have this warning signal of you’re looking too long. I probably looked 15 seconds (felt like an eternity) Anyway it really freaked me out and I’m having a hard time. I know how to battle these thoughts back- it’s why I’m in recovery but I feel like I did something wrong and now I feel like I’ve wronged my niece. This obsession has taken me by surprise and I’m trying hard not to fall back down the rabbit hole. Has anyone experienced something similar in regards to POCD?!

Does anyone feel guilty really easily, like you’re being a bad friend if you’re not 1,000% honest with them all the time? Is this a specific type of OCD?

I am so depressed bc it’s like I discovered my truth. I still obsess but there is one huge problem in my relationship that needs to get fixed that my partner and I have talked about and even argued about. I don’t feel financially secure in my relationship. He does help me and I am not saying he doesn’t but he only can when he has enough in his bank account. I honestly have spending issues I need to work on. But right now I have calmed down on spending things. But we are still struggling. His job doesn’t pay much and he doesn’t get enough hours. He’s worked there for 6 years now and due to the world getting bad. His job is suffering from it with losing hours and not being able to give more out. It’s been bothering me a lot. I told him I don’t feel financially secure. I know he will help me but he doesn’t make enough to do more and that has been making me unhappy. With all the arguments and talking about it with no change I am depressed badly. I don’t want our relationship to end bc I know I still love him but how can I motivate him and get him to understand the correct way that he needs to leave. That place isn’t physically safe for him anyways. He knows I hate him working there and that I am losing patience. He’s been depressed badly too. But I need him to leave.. my best friends husband use to work there and she always hoped he got fired so he had no choice but to leave. He did and is doing way better now. But my patience is growing thin with this. I don’t wanna force him to do something he doesn’t wanna do but I can’t stand him wanting to stay there and not wanna find something better… that is the biggest issue besides our mental health that we have other than that everything else is good. I just wanna know a way to motivate him without threatening him that if he doesn’t change I will leave. I don’t want 12 years to go down the drain for this but I am running out of options… 😢😢😭😭

Does anyone else feel like as an adult your OCD is bad but now that you know what it is, you had it as a kid too? Looking back, I think my always being in fear as a child was just OCD. I constantly thought I was going to die or that I was sick, etc. I think I didn’t realize it was OCD until my 20’s. How about y’all?

Does anyone have tips for a beginner to exercising and eating better when you’re depressed.. when I wake up I just wanna lay in bed and it’s like all I crave is junk/sugary foods.. idk how to get out of this and it’s so frustrating.. I want better for myself but it’s like my mind is like “nope..”Any advice at all is appreciated