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OCD has "morfed" after holiday away from home


Guest Sally44

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Guest Sally44

We went away for a few days and our son coped very well with the holiday YHA 'facilities'. He shared the toilet/shower with other guests.

On returning home he has said that he does not want to spend all his time "in the bath". [His OCD is about germs/contamination.]

So for the last 3 days he has not had a bath and has not changed his clothes and has not slept in his bed. He has gone to bed with his dad and kept his clothes on. And he has been okay with that. He has had his other OCD behavours, but not the lengthy washing rituals and not the refusal to wear clothes in the house.

So today I actually had to ask him to take a bath because he was starting to smell! Now he has had a bath he has gone back into his bedroom and is again just in underpants and no clothes.

What will tomorrow bring???

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Guest Jenniferj

Gosh sounds familiar. My son went from 3 to 5 hours a day washing to needing to be nagged to use the bathroom. I never really knew why. For him I think it was a way of delaying the long sessions in the bathroom which he hated. He started wearing the same clothes till he had to use the bathroom - so changing clothes was obviously a trigger for him and he avoided it by staying dressed. Now he can change without washing but still dislikes the bathroom and I have to remind him to use it . I think ocd constantly morphs. If only we knew what tomorrow will bring - I hope it brings you something positive x

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Guest Sally44

My son has contamination OCD so changing environments is a big trigger and how to stop contamination moving from one environment to another [which involves clothes]. And he is hyper vigilant about not contaminating his home, himself and especially his bedroom.

If he wants to go into his bedroom he has to have the long toilet and showering ritual and remove his clothes and often stays with just a towel wrapped around him, or puts on his underpants and stays in his bedroom.

On holiday he was in a shared family room [at the Youth Hostel] and was fine having a shower just once a day - albeit a long one. Or he would not shower at all and would remain in his same clothes [so before he changes clothes he has to shower etc]. And he is saying that he does not want to waste his time with all those rituals. Which sounds like some kind of progress to me.

He sounds just like your son jenniferj. So today we have returned for a two day trip to London, staying at another YHA and he did really well there. No OCD really apart from the constant licking of his fingers - to remove germs.

He has come home and did not get straight into the shower.

He has gone up for bed. He has got into his bed and that hasn't happened for years. Before we went away he was sleeping in bed with his dad and wearing his clothes. And I talked to him about it and told him that there is no difference between our bedroom and his bedroom. So maybe that has sunk in and he is trying to sleep in his own bed fully clothed?

People [school,family etc] don't understand why he does not like his room to be cleaned if he has contamination OCD. He has told me that if things are "left as they are" the germs don't spread. But if there is something with germs, that I touch when cleaning, that I will then spread the germs all over his bedroom. I have cleaned it recently because it was just getting too dirty/dusty.

He is happy to put on his trainers himself and tie the laces. He will not touch his school shoes at all.

First day back in school tomorrow - if he agrees to go.

Regarding clothes. If he changes his clothes he has to shower. If he wears clothes they get contaminated and have to be removed before he goes into his bedroom and after each visit to the bathroom. So endless changes of clothes and showering. And he could not put on a clean set of clothes, then use the toilet and keep those clothes on. They would need to be taken off before he went into the bathroom, then use the toilet, then shower, then new set of clothes or no clothes.

But for some reason NOW he is okay with the same clothes on all the time day and night, and no showering!

JenniferJ: Out of interest, does your son see the bathroom as a place of contamination or a place to get clean. My son sees it as both. So he has to keep things out of the bathroom ie. clothes, towel etc and uses bathmats to walk on the floor [as urine might have leaked onto the bathroom floor], and then spends hours on the toilet and in the bath. Then as soon as he gets out of the bath he has to wash his hands before he leaves the bathroom [using the bathmats again], and goes naked into his room to use the towel and hopefully put on pants.

I'm just wondering how he will be on returning to school.

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