What strategies can I say over the phone to help my friend reduce washing her hands after she has touched anything whilst doing a task?
Washing hands constantly: What strategies can I... - OCD Support
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Washing hands constantly
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helpmetoday
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Hi there i have the same thing at the minute. It has stemmed from covid19 being told to wash hands etc. Its called contamination ocd ,it does cause me anxiety ,i am enrolled on a cbt course to practise stopping the hand washing ,its not easy as you have to expose yourself to your fear of germs etc but practise not washing your hands if that makes sense. Your friend when washing her hands needs to reduce the time she is washing them each time .
Thank you I will suggest that to her.
I have this! I've always got my hands under the tap. I have 'dirty' areas and 'clean' areas in my house, particularly in my kitchen, and I feel I have to wash my hands if I've touched something 'dirty' before I touch something 'clean'.
I think a lot of people have been triggered to hand washing by Coronavirus, but some of us already had it. It's good to take sensible precautions, but controlling unnecessary hand washing takes a bit of effort.
It involves resisting the urge to wash your hands unnecessarily and letting the panic and urge build up until it starts to subside.
Try suggesting to your friend that she waits ten or fifteen minutes when she feels the urge to wash her hands. If she can put up with the discomfort that long, she will learn gradually that it does subside. If she still feels the need to wash, then she can go and do it. It's repeated practice of this that helps to break the habit.
I attach an extract from a book about OCD that you can forward to her. The foreword by Professor Paul Salkovskis is particularly helpful.
readingagency.org.uk/adults...
Thank you for your advice. I will mention this strategy to her and I've forward the extract. Really appreciate your help.
You can tell her to reduce the time of washing hands. For example if she washes hand 10 times in an hour then tell her to wash hands only 9 times and after that reduce it to 8 and so on. I hope this will help her
Thank you
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