Lollipop

Good point! Same here! I'm concerned about having to go out again.

Agreed!

I'd say 15/16 and it's peaked and troughed since then but it's only within the past year I've realised it was always OCD but never recognised it. I'm 37 right now. Hey ho!

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/13/why-regular-handwashing-can-be-bad-advice-for-patients

I totally relate to this! I have super clean taps, fridge door and front door handle but that's about it! So hard and everything takes so long, even a "simple" task like emptying the dishwasher. Have you had any CBT/ERP therapy or read any good books (eg Break free from OCD) that you could use to design some behavioural experiments? I should try this myself!

I can empathise... Every time I speak to my parents it's the same. My dad appears to have health anxiety so this is not helping him either. I had to tell him to just stop the other day! And tomorrow I will be at work where it will be talked of again 🙄

Thanks! So for me as I see it in day to day life my current focus is to aim to stick to the recommended guidelines of when to wash/sanitise hands (which is still restrictive compared to my usual routines!) and wash hands only once for twenty seconds or sanitise if out and about say on public transport or eating but not to start cleaning my hands every five minutes or when I've touched something someone else has touched (me yesterday at work 🤦‍♀️). Phew! Slightly amused to still be reducing drastically whilst presumably the advice is to increase when general public are washing their hands! Also not to avoid public places/going out unless that advice is given to us. And definitely not to keep reading the news and related articles umpteen times a day! I started this to not be avoiding it...now it's feeding my fear and I'm reading the add on stories and related comments and it's all about door handles and the like and completely unhelpful! Now I feel like I have some guidelines to work within and positive steps to take, not forgetting what I'm fighting for in the long term, thanks Ashley. 😁

So helpful! Thank you so much for this! It's something I personally am really struggling with dealing with and am concerned about the set back it could cause to my recovery. So tricky! I assume it would be helpful to share this with my therapist?

Sounds like you have it under control though and have recognised it so well done you! I am concerned it's going to set me back on my recovery journey. I was reading the articles as not reading them felt like avoidance but now I can't stop reading them and stupidly I read the comments on an article comparing hand sanitizer and hand washing and another about ten places it's lurking (to be fair some of that was useful and has made me less scared of coins!). I just want it to go away! I am also concerned that if I'm not reading them then that is negligent and ignoring the risks.

That made me laugh out loud so thanks for that 🤣👍🏼

So hard isn't it? I'm currently in therapy and getting so confused about what to do.