Contamination OCD

[newmercies]

For those of you who also have contamination OCD, I'm curious - what helps you set boundaries with your OCD? I find that sometimes I try to convince myself that what I'm doing is just routine cleaning when really I know its my compulsions. I've been really struggling with my living situation (I have 3 roommates) - my OCD attaches to people I love and tries to convince me that I'm going to contaminate them. I almost feel like it'd be easier if I was living on my own, but I know that could become a safety mechanism to avoid the distressing contamination thoughts. Any ideas/advice?

[Hidden]

When you know it's a compulsion, on purpose leave a place that you didn't clean or wipe and get yourself contaminated again and spread it all over the place that you just cleaned. Spread those invisible contaminates around and then touch everything you own like clean towels, whatever my contaminate your loves ones, your sheets, your car, everything. Make it to where it's impossible to decontaminate and then enjoy "dirty world" it's the fun world!

[ocdbegone89]

I am dealing with something along the lines of this. In my case, I obsess about carcinogens and how they can mess you up in the long term with not much of a way for you to tell on the spot. I also clean stuff a lot and throw many things away, like food and items which my OCD latches onto, and in the moment, the anxiety is so realistic that throwing stuff away seems like the only way to avoid the problem. I've been telling myself that a carcinogen is only a risk factor, not certain death and that if I am to get cancer later on, it will be unlikely that I would know what caused it specifically and that it is also important to live without regrets. Sometimes it works, sometimes I throw stuff away during the moments of confusion. I always push through to the best of my ability and remind myself that it is a process. I am dealing with the contaminating people part that you described, as well. How do you deal with your OCD, when it flares up?

[newmercies in reply to ocdbegone89]

Thanks for sharing. That sounds like it must be hard. Something that helps me when my OCD comes up is to try to sit with the anxiety and uncertainty. When I'm having the urge to clean something, I will sometimes delay doing so for a few minutes and engage in a different activity. This helps me to not act so quickly in response to the distressing obsessive thoughts. I think its important for the moments where you are deciding what to do, to take a step back, take a deep breath, and ask yourself if the reason you want to do something is to try to get rid of anxiety. Often this is a sign that it's a compulsion. I also use mindfulness skills; I recommend the book "Everyday Mindfulness for OCD", it has a lot of helpful, practical tips. I hope this helps, I'm rooting for you.