- Date posted
- 49w
Contamination OCD
Does anyone feel like when they go to the toilet, when you have to pull your clothes up with dirty hands you are transferring toilet germs onto your clothes?
Does anyone feel like when they go to the toilet, when you have to pull your clothes up with dirty hands you are transferring toilet germs onto your clothes?
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@Anonymous31564 I’m not sure, my therapist wants me to touch the waistband of your clothes during the day (the area you touched when you went to the toilet) but I just can’t bring myself to get toilet germs on my hands and then touch my phone for example.
I have this verbatim. Or if I touch a sink handle after I've watched my hands. This type of contamination doesn't seem to bother me as much as others for some reason, but you are definitely not alone here. 💕💕
@DaniRae47 I don’t know if this is a trigger but I find on a mixer tap I just use a tiny bit of soap on the end of it (where I’m going to turn it off) and wash it then I feel ok to touch it after I’ve washed my hands. I know it not really addressing the ocd but I find it’s a bridge until I can turn it off properly. Thank you ❤️
I expose myself to a lot of things with contamination OCD and overcome those compulsions. But even when I didn't have OCD, I didn't touch my clothes before washing them. I touched my clothes with clean hands in the toilet. I don't like to touch the handle of the toilet and then touch my clothes, so I think that before and after my OCD showed up, I had the same opinion about that.
@Anonymous - Do you just wash your hands first then pull your clothes up? I’ve been using wet wipes to wipe my hands then pull my clothes up then wash my hands.
@Natalie Yes, I do. However, if I use my own toilet, I don’t wash my hands when pulling up my clothes. In someone else’s house, I wash my hands. If I am in a public restroom, I use toilet paper to open the door and keep my hands clean before pulling my clothes up. I think we have some performance for ourselves, and if we don’t get anxiety for that, it’s okay to do something like that. Some people get so much anxiety in the toilet, but I don’t get anxiety. I just like being clean in this case, and I had this performance before my OCD, and I think it doesn’t bother me.
@Natalie This also sounds good in my opinion.
@Anonymous - Oh ok so it’s something you’ve always done really. Mine just set in when my ocd got bad. I never used to think too much about touching my clothes. I always had a thing where I’d leave like the button and zip of your trousers until after washing hands but now it’s pulling them up is the problem. My ocd is centred around using the bathroom you see. It’s my main problem.
@Natalie I see. But you're right, when I didn't have OCD, I didn't think about that too, but I remember that without stress, I have done it like a habit. I was a tidy girl, but I didn't wash too much or think about everything others did or anything. After OCD showed up, things changed. But don't worry if you expose yourself enough to the recommendation your therapist gave you, you will eventually be able to touch your clothes without stress or at least not care whether you touch your clothes or not, just like before. Just you have to let anxiety pass and Tell yourself, "I can be like my old self."
@Anonymous - Thank you for your helpful words! 😁
@Natalie You're welcome. 🙂 I think you know because you working with a therapist, you shouldn't review in your mind when exposing yourself. I mean, avoid mental complications.
@Anonymous - Yes she just kind of wants me to do it and not think about it and carry on as normal. It’s just so hard as I just would feel like I’m putting germs onto my clothes. I have the wet wipes at the moment as a bridge but she wants me to stop using them soon. But I just can’t get past the transfer thought we call it where you feel as though you are putting germs onto your clothes. I feel as though maybe I should just keep the wipes. How do find contamination affects you, if you don’t mind me asking?
Thank you for the link. That’s great progress! Thank you! Yes I hope to get back to how I was before. I’ve always had ocd since 10 but hidden it until it got so severe 6 years ago I had to tell someone. No I live in the uk so I see a therapist on our national health service. But came across Nocd and thought it would be a great place for support and maybe get to know people.
You're welcome. I was in a severe situation too. I thought water in the bathroom or from cleaning dishes before put in dishwasher splashed on me, and I felt gross. I thought the walls or any items in the bathroom that came close to my clothes or body. It was deliberate. I thought whwn other breathing can make me sick. Now I don't afraid of get illness but still in some of things I have compulsions I feel contamination without afraid of germs it's stupid Yes indeed , I agree.How many months do you use thrapy? My program was 12 werk or 3 months
Although I know, we can't control others or anything around us, we must learn to live with uncertainty. We shouldn't overthink everything we see around us. With enough practice, we can overcome the OCD and complaints we still have.
@Anonymous - Yes you are right, we need to live with the uncertainty. There was a time I managed it well. So I know I can probably get back to that.
@Natalie Dr. Joseph Murphy says in his book, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, that we are creatures of habit. By practicing enough, we can succeed at anything, just like driving, swimming, or playing music. Also, Matt Codde said in his program that we have practiced OCD so much that it's time to practice ERP. By practicing enough and exposing ourselves, we can break the cycle of OCD. It is important that we believe in ourselves and believe that it will work.
Do you mean when I got it or how dose affect my life?
@Anonymous - How does it affect your life? I’ve been struggling for 6 years with it since it got really severe.
@Anonymous - I hadn't had contamination OCD, but a year or maybe more before COVID started, it was so mild I didn't know it was OCD. I just felt different and sensitive, but with COVID, it completely showed up and got severe until my life became smaller. I just thought nothing was clean. I washed my clothes every day, sometimes two or three times. Anything annoyed me, and I felt disgusted by everything. It was severe for me too. Then I started to Google and found Matt Codde on YouTube, and then for a while, I used the Unstuck app to manage my fears and find my core fear I still sometimes use it ,then used 12-week program of Matt Codde .
I isolated myself. Washing my hands too much, as well as my clothes, and coming into contact with furniture or brushes, was all annoying to me.I couldn't go out and had so much anxiety like all the time. I lived in a clean timezone of my room and I couldn't touch without washing hands
Sorry to hear that, so you are feeling better now yes? I haven’t heard of Matt codde. Il look him up. I was changing clothes everytime I went to the bathroom. And at the beginning would restrict fluids and only allow myself to go to the bathroom once a day because my hand washing was so severe. But luckily now I’ve got that under better control and also stay in the same clothes.
You can find him on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or his platform: https://www.restoredminds.com Yes, I am so much better, but there are still some compulsions I should eliminate. I don't wash my hands too much or take a shower every time or change my clothes too much anymore. Even though I wash my clothes two or three times a week, in the past, I washed them every day, sometimes two or three times a day, which was excessive. I can imagine how hard it can be not to go to the toilet because of those rituals, but I know you can succeed because you know what life is like without contamination OCD, and you were in that position before. You can get there again. Is your therapist from NOCD?
I’m the same if I’m near anything like the toilet, sink, bathroom bin I feel dirty. Any proximity to them, bathroom door handles and light switches too. For me I’m not afraid of getting ill I’m afraid of the toilet germs which therapist says is micro detail, if you can’t see it then there’s nothing to worry about. I’ve been in therapy for over a year with my current therapist. I was private at the beginning for 3 years. Do you live in the uk?
Il have a look at his book too! I guess when you do something over and over again the anxiety does start to diminish.
I’ve been feeling the urge to avoid intimacy or purposefully engage (for reassurance that I won’t give into a compulsion) because of intrusive thoughts and fear that I’ll “check/test” my reactions. My OCD is making me so scared that I’ll purposefully think of a child and try to see if I like it. It’s so complicated but I guess I’m mentally checking if I would mentally check during intimacy. I’ve even envisioned myself checking and it’s making me so nauseous. I know it’s a compulsion like any other but the sound of “touching yourself to the thought of a child” sounds atrocious and vile. I’m terrified I’ll automatically start checking next time I am being intimate. I truly feel so worried. If anyone has gone through something similar, I’d appreciate hearing your experience. Or if anyone has any advice?
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!
Hi, I’m new to this app and newly diagnosed. Question for you all, What things did you normalize and do without a second thought that when diagnosed, you realized was actually your OCD? Mine was how concerned with germs I am. I hold my breath when I open a door so the rush of wind doesn’t infect my lungs from whatever is in the room. I thought everyone was really careful and concerned like me. But Ive learned it’s not normal the lengths I go to. What was yours?
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