If I got the thought that I might've left my hair lathered in shampoo after the shower, what should I do?

[canigetawitness]

Should I just leave the thought as it is & not do the compulsion to re-rinse? Or since I had the thought, does that mean I should now be walking around every day with lathered hair as an exposure? I'm a bit confused about how you would address this using treatment.

[Hidden]

If you are doubting whether you rinsed, after you washed your hair with shampoo, it is an OCD doubt.

When I have OCD doubts, I try and do the following.

The exposure would be to move around thinking that you have lathered hair.

You would resist a re-rinse.

Also, you could relabel the thought as OCD.

Sit with the anxiety.

The anxiety will be high in the beginning, but it will get lower.

The thought will slowly fade away.

I hope this helps.

[MothFir]

If the compulsion is to re-rinse, you should definitely try to resist the urge to re-rinse. That may be enough for ERP.

If you want to go a step further, you may be able to increase the exposure's intensity by putting a bit of soap on your finger and wiping it in your hair. I don't think you need to walk around all lathered up -- that sounds like something your OCD would tell you to do (i.e., an obsession about doing an exposure "perfectly" and to an unreasonable degree). Plus if you're in the northern hemisphere it will be getting cold soon!

[Pratheek]

Just think that it's a thought running in ur mind just avoid thinking of it .sit and think hair after bath will stay there only just stick to ur decision or ask ur doubts who is very close to you so that the anxiety will come down

[OrchidKoi15]

Ok, this is such a great example of what I feel sometimes. It actually struck a nerve with me. For me, there is a small but possible probability that you didn't rinse your hair. So, you are out of the shower drying off and realize this. My urge would be to just go back in the shower and rinse it to be sure, but that would technically be a compulsion. So, if it is too high of a trigger to not go back in. Wrap your hair in a towel to dry and see how long you can wait before going back to rinse it. Each time you have these types of feelings, prolong the time more and more before doing the compulsion. It takes away the power of the thought. Also, follow through with the thought. Let's say there was shampoo still in your hair, then what? Nothing really. That is how I was taught to deal with it, but to me, what if the situation is not that simple, but medical related? That's where I run into problems, because I have a very extensive medical background, these types of circumstances could be life or death in a way. Sorry to segway.