nrh12

Hi Thanks for your reply. It is a fear of feeling dirty, I describe it as feeling contaminated. That the way it goes my my OCD, I have no fear of catching something, just a fear of things becoming “contaminated”. Part of the problem I have is that as it’s a block of apartments/flats the front doors of the apartments aren’t as “tight” as an external door would be, sometimes I can smell cooking etc from another apartment - I think if the cooking smell can carry on the air, what else could (such as coughed or sneezes). Its something i definitely have to work on, as I do genuinely feel a little trapped in. Thanks again, Neil

Hi As anyone who has read my posts before will know, my OCD is based around fear of contamination from body fluids. Since seeing/reading news about how COVID-19/coronavirus is spread, I’ve developed a fear of people coughing. I should point out here that this isn’t actually a fear of contracting COVID-19/coronavirus but rather a fear of being covered in what is expelled from people when they cough. I’ve seen the articles that explain how far a cough can travel and that the content of the cough remains floating in the air I live in an apartment, my neighbour on my floor has a constant smoker’s cough, I hear him coughing as he is coming and going (and I don’t think he puts his hand over his mouth). As it’s internal, my own front door isn’t as air tight as an external door would be, and I worry about something coming in through around the edges of the door. The real problem is I don’t feel I can go out/come in if he has been along the corridor, unless it’s been a couple of hours since he went coughing along it or I change my clothes and shower when I get in. I feel like if I were to go along the corridor that I would become covered in the invisible content of what is expelled when he coughs. Leaving my apartment is controllable as I know when he’s been in the corridor, but my heart drops if I come home and I see him leaving or his car has gone since I went out. Normally my fears are over more visible thing like marks on furniture, the above sort of situation is new for me and I’m surprised at the level of impact it’s having. TYIA, Neil

Hi Showering is also a problem for me, and I find it’s something I need to keep a “close eye” on - one extra action here and there soon adds up in terms of time. I came across this when searching for ways to reduce and manage my shower time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Y4XGpGF1E It’s a YouTube video of a technique used by a guy who suffers and has reduced his showering time to 11 minutes.

Hi thanks for your reply, sorry it’s taken a while to reply. I think I know the answer to the question you posed! I just find it really difficult to deal with this tangible/physical situations when something contamination related “really happened”. Another similar situation happened around the same time when I was using a toilet at work and the toilet seat slammed down. When I lifted it back up I noticed a small drop of pee and immediately started thinking about how the seat slamming down may have caused it to splatter on me. I don’t know one way or another really, but when I think about the physical process of it, it makes sense that I might be contaminated. Thanks again, Neil

I used some public toilets, they were relatively clean and OK, although the floor wasn’t exactly spotless - if you know what I mean. Went outside after and, not having the most sensible shoes for wet weather, some rain seeped into my shoes on my way back to the car and my feet got a little wet. Now I’m concerned that given what you normally find on toilet floors, some of “that” will be in my shoes and on my feet! I’m not concerned with getting ill, but the more tangible issue of my feet and shoes being contaminated with goodness knows what from the toilet floor.

Hi Thanks for your reply. I haven’t done any overtly obvious compulsions, but I am “wary” of places I sat afterwards, such as my own work chair and car seat.

Hi Not been on in a while, haven’t needed to, but something at work a couple of days ago “set me off”. I was in a meeting for a couple of hours and when I got up I noticed that in the middle of the seat/chair I had been sat on was a large mark/stain where some liquid had clearly been spilt and dried. My OCD is around contamination from body fluids and the like, what if the stain was from where someone had peed/urinated themselves? I’m not concerned with contracting anything, simply contamination and spreading it - to my desk seat, my car seat etc. It’s these more tangible situations I struggle with.

I think that’s a clear and succinct of describing the goal of CBT, it’s about taking a leap of faith initially but it’s a leap which is eventually proven.

Hi Do you have one of the popular books on dealing with OCD? Some of the theoretical parts can be a bit “dry” (but useful nonetheless) but they also cover how to put together self directed exposure and response prevention (ERP) plans. Also, they usually refer to other sufferers and you’ll see how other people with similar OCD managed exposure. Neil

Hi I know when i started taking fluvoxamine the side effects went on for a few weeks, then went away. Side effects are normal, this may just be your body adapting to the new medication. Have a chat with the doctor who prescribed and see what they say.

Hi Many therapists working in the field of CBT and using it to treat OCD, aren’t necessarily Clinical Psychologists (or other relevant type of psychologists). There are various occupations/positions/qualifications suited to using CBT to treat OCD; psychotherapists, mental health nurse, IAPT practitioners etc.

Hi I initially read the title as a slightly different, but also helpful point: try not to seek (reassurance) answers from other people. Although, I’m all to aware how difficult that can be. Neil

Hi Thank you again for the replies. The choice issue is something I was told during a CBT session/course - it was a case of waiting for the anxiety to come down and then make a choice, the problem is that even when the anxiety has dissipated I still feel that the “dirt”/“contamination” is still there. Im not really interested in them being antibacterial (despite my OCD I general use standard cleaning products), these just happen to be good wipes for the bathroom, the antibacterial aspect is incidental. Thank you again, Neil

Hi Thank you for the replies. You both mention about things coming back and its funny you should say that! Today I was giving my shower cubicle a clean (not something that is really affected by my OCD) and I was using disposable antibacterial wipes. I was nearly finished when I pulled a wipe out of the packet and guess what - there was a hair on it, it looked like an body/pubic hair and I think it was already on the wipe in the packet! I’d been using those wipes to clean virtually the entire cubicle and touching and standing on the surfaces I’d cleaned. It’s not the hair that bothers me, more a case of if such a hair was on the wipes then what else could have been on the wipes/what was someone doing with those wipes for such a hair to arrive on them!?!? I had to clean the cubicle again with different wipes and clean any floors I’d stood on after walking out of the cubicle (having cleaned and stood on the floor of the cubicle) as I didn’t know what else to do!

Hi, thank you for your reply. What I often find is that initially I have high worry/anxiety, that passes and sometimes I can “move on”, then a week or so later it rears it’s ugly head again and can be twice as “strong”. Thanks again, Neil