Does thinking skeptically help or not to cope with OCD?

[Godel]

Hi! How many of you are scientists? Does being a scientist help you cope with OCD? how?

[StuckForYears]

I'm not a scientist... but I have found that interacting with medical professionals made my OCD worse. Their simplistic presentation of germ theory to me at a vulnerable, formative time in my life, really made me spiral. The specifics of what I do and don't need to be afraid of or cautious about in terms of bacteria have long eluded me, and it has been exceedingly difficult in dealing with therapists during ERP who refuse to clarify what is the objective truth, since they claim that is reassurance. I have both overshot the mark with extensive hand-washing, cleaning, and avoiding; and undershot the mark, having dismissed an urge to hand-wash, clean or avoid as OCD, and then ending up with an infection. I would really love to get an objective handle on what a person really should and shouldn't need to worry about.

[Hidden in reply to StuckForYears]

Sounds like me. "Did you miss something" (that's my OCD). Alternate between checking too much and then saying, that's just OCD, and not checking at all and missing something.

Although I'm not sure where I am currently. That was a few years back.

[Greer978]

Scientists/doctors don't always make the best patients. I know a doctor with OCD and they struggle. I know another doctor with PTSD, and they also struggle. By varying degrees, their daily lives and relationships are affected by their disorders.