Ocd contaminated cupboard help

[Guest Phil10]

So how do I rid myself of all these worries I have with my ocd?

[Headwreck]

The more you keep thinking about these worries not being there, the more they will be there. You rid yourself of the worries by showing them apathy, going against everything your mind is telling you to do, having 100% faith and compliance in what your therapist is doing and asking you to do, and using the guidance from the kind people here along the way. Even if you don't believe in any of it. Buy into it, even if it's falsely (it will be at first). What do you have to lose? You've used the OCD approach for long enough to see that it is no good. How long can you go on doing the same things and expecting a different outcome?

[Guest Phil10]

13 hours ago, Headwreck said:

The more you keep thinking about these worries not being there, the more they will be there. You rid yourself of the worries by showing them apathy, going against everything your mind is telling you to do, having 100% faith and compliance in what your therapist is doing and asking you to do, and using the guidance from the kind people here along the way. Even if you don't believe in any of it. Buy into it, even if it's falsely (it will be at first). What do you have to lose? You've used the OCD approach for long enough to see that it is no good. How long can you go on doing the same things and expecting a different outcome?

The thoughts are the hardest when you feel you are going mad or life not being real or the letter box being dirty the thoughts are powerful and cause me anxiety. 

I felt my third therapy session went well so hoping the 4th also goes well. I have suffered ocd since 2006 which is too long really I’ve had help before but never proper cbt so that’s why I will give this exposure therapy a go. 

Ive not managed to listen to what she said about hand washing yet it may take a bit longer.

Today I came to the conclusion many of my worries e.g my work going bust may never happen because in my previous jobs it never happened so maybe some of the worries I have might not be true or they might never affect me like health issues or needing glasses ect. It feels like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders some days but like I say I only should worry about issues that affect me but I do worry about the future a lot. Ive worried about the meaning of life or if it’s all one big deception for about a year or two. 

Can anybody relate to this? 

[Guest Phil10]

Anybody?

[bobfish]

Yes, I can relate. But it sounds like your therapy sessions are going well so far and you're beginning to challenge your thoughts and accepting the fact that they may not be true. Be positive - you've still got a lot of work to do, but you're on the up, as long as you keep practising CBT.

[Guest Phil10]

15 hours ago, bobfish said:

Yes, I can relate. But it sounds like your therapy sessions are going well so far and you're beginning to challenge your thoughts and accepting the fact that they may not be true. Be positive - you've still got a lot of work to do, but you're on the up, as long as you keep practising CBT.

I stil fear the CBT won’t help or isn’t helping much

[Guest Phil10]

Anybody help?

I’ve opted to stop using my spare bed for dirty washing I wil use bathroom floor and stuff I wear twice I will now wash after one wash.

Ocd makes me want a new bed but my solution may be turn the mattress upside down get a new duvet and cover and hope I can once again use it for a bed. My ocd tells me if I someone sleeps on the bed it’s contaminated if they go on sofa.

Now I put dirty washing on my main bed when I change but only for 5 mins I leave stuff overnight on other bed hence the ocd..

I stopped using a wash basket in my last house due to ocd 

[PolarBear]

Phil, everything you are doing or contemplating is a compulsion and completely unnecessary. 

Compulsions keep you stuck.

[Guest Phil10]

3 hours ago, PolarBear said:

Phil, everything you are doing or contemplating is a compulsion and completely unnecessary. 

Compulsions keep you stuck.

A whole new bed would be the worst scenario though 

[lostinme]

Hi Phil,

Im so sorry to hear you are struggling so much at the moment. I also suffer contamination issues, but as you know one persons issues varies to another. However saying that the treatment remains the same. 

I know you think that this is a best alternative than a new bed, but seriously it isn’t, you are still buying into the the idea that there is something to fear. So even after this you will still feel doubt and be unsure and this will keep the anxiety going and making your OCD beliefs stronger by believing there is something to fear.  

If something dirty has been placed on the bed then the only thing you should even consider doing is to actually put clean bedding on and then continue on with your day. 

 

[Guest Phil10]

I had another false thought today

I had my floor mops out and I used the living room and kitchen one.

The wipe I used for kitchen I refused that wipe for the bathroom floor but because of that I had a thought like maybe I took the entire mop..and my urge is to buy whole new mops but I will try to resist.

This is the power of my ocd I can have these false thoughts that are over powering e.g the letter box issue as I was sure it came from the bin without actual proof ..

[Guest Phil10]

The result is I can end up feeling disgusted with the floor despite there being no truth 

[lostinme]

This is exactly why you should not give into the compulsions, you would be buying new ones based on doubt and not facts.

However saying that even if you had done this? there still wouldn’t be a reasonable reason why you would need to replace them. 

[Guest Phil10]

9 minutes ago, lostinme said:

This is exactly why you should not give into the compulsions, you would be buying new ones based on doubt and not facts.

However saying that even if you had done this? there still wouldn’t be a reasonable reason why you would need to replace them. 

Are these thoughts classed as magical thinking ocd or something? 

I can basically think up anything in my head and believe it’s true my theripst says you can almost train your logical part of your brain to believe stuff

Like for example if I say the grass is actually blue I could convince myself this or if aliens existed on mars I could almost make myself believe this 

Why are false thoughts just as bad as real ones that happen? 

[lostinme]

I can’t answer for sure if you suffer with magical thinking or not because it’s to vague what you’ve written. Magical thinking is an illogical thought pattern characterised by linking of unrelated actions or events. They fear that if they don’t do certain things in a certain way, something bad will happen to either themselves or a loved one. Eg: stepping in certain ways, doing things a certain number of times, touching things a certain number of times etc the list goes is endless and is unique to each individual person.

I think this is more to do with the contamination issues you suffer.

Hope this helps 

[Guest Phil10]

I still worry where to put the dirty washing? 

I gave up on using the bed but by using the bathroom floor I worry if I use the toilet before the stuff goes in the machine toilet germs could go near it? Now I already did this with my under wear but it’s new me putting my trousers and t shirts on that floor..

[PolarBear]

Put a basket wherever it makes sense. Proximity to germs must not be part of your consideration.

[Guest Phil10]

50 minutes ago, PolarBear said:

Put a basket wherever it makes sense. Proximity to germs must not be part of your consideration.

Do you think there is any risk with it being on bathroom floor?

[Guest OCDhavenobrain]

23 minutes ago, Phil10 said:

Do you think there is any risk with it being on bathroom floor?

I have to jump in here. 

What did he write? The last part with not taking germs into consideration, why wouldn't you put it on the bathroom floor? 

Observe what is happening here in your head. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by OCDhavenobrain

[lostinme]

28 minutes ago, Phil10 said:

Do you think there is any risk with it being on bathroom floor?

You have to stop associating the risk factor whether it be on the bathroom floor, bed, wash basket etc it is just a viscous cycle and only one that will get worse and worse. Why ever you believe there is a risk you are giving the thoughts meaning and importance that there is something to fear this will just make the thoughts of more importance and make them stronger. 

Believe it or not I had the same issues, having to wipe everything I touched after handling the dirty washing, stripping beds if it came in contact with them and washing carpets etc, wiping the floors I’d walked over and wiping the door handles on the washer, dryer, doors etc it was a never ending nightmare. With all the hard work doing cbt it’s no longer an issue, I now have a wash basket under the kitchen side and also in the bathroom without any issues. 

You need to take a look at your core belief and what it is you fear ? and then you can start working on the cognitive side as well as the behavioural side too. 

[Andrewc]

On 28/07/2018 at 09:54, Headwreck said:

The more you keep thinking about these worries not being there, the more they will be there. You rid yourself of the worries by showing them apathy, going against everything your mind is telling you to do, having 100% faith and compliance in what your therapist is doing and asking you to do, and using the guidance from the kind people here along the way. Even if you don't believe in any of it. Buy into it, even if it's falsely (it will be at first). What do you have to lose? You've used the OCD approach for long enough to see that it is no good. How long can you go on doing the same things and expecting a different outcome?

I like this paragraph HeadWreck. It's what I was thinking recently. 'How long can this go on (ocd)?' 'Am I never going to just take the plunge and try a new approach entirely?' And then I thought 'What the hell?' Why not? Let's see the outcome, because what has been going on before has been a massive hindrance. And has NOT worked. So let's take some freakin risk! And enjoy life!! 

(By the way when I write 'Let's' its referring to just me, I don't know why but I always write like this in plural! :)).

 

Have a nice day.

Andrew

[Guest Phil10]

I’m struggling with the dirty washing on the bed. Basically I opted not to put it on bed but the floor instead.

However I feel I will struggle to accept the bed will be back as a bed again I have got a new duvet and cover for it and I can turn the mattress however my urge is still to buy a new bed I get these thoughts like my sofa will have dirty washing germs on it.

It may not seem logical but I am finding these thoughts hard and using the bed as a bed will be difficult for me but I feel it’s important I restore then bed as a bed..

[PolarBear]

Unfortunately this is the same old thing for you. The original thought you had that the bed was contaminated was a lie. There was no contamination. None at all. So everything you did to correct the ptoblem that didn't exist was a compulsion and only made things worse.

You should not have bought a new duvet. You should not flip the mattress. You should use the bed as a bed and get on with your life.

[Guest Phil10]

1 hour ago, PolarBear said:

Unfortunately this is the same old thing for you. The original thought you had that the bed was contaminated was a lie. There was no contamination. None at all. So everything you did to correct the ptoblem that didn't exist was a compulsion and only made things worse.

You should not have bought a new duvet. You should not flip the mattress. You should use the bed as a bed and get on with your life.

Yes but the issue is like by doing all this I should be more anxiety free but because my ocd is so bad sometimes doing the compulsions has no effect like cleaning the letter box did not rid of me the thought to replace the door. Again it’s the worry of germs spreading that concerns me. I’m doing to change the bed and sit on the sofa to test my anxiety out and hope it passes. My theripst says it’s to with the rational part of the brain and you have your ocd mind which says different 

[Guest Phil10]

Just to confirm I already bought a new bed frame 4 months ago because I worried in my old house the germs would come to the new house. Only urge to replace I resisted was a full new mattress. The theripst says I need to tell myself the things are adequate and does the job and doesn’t need replaced 

Edited August 21, 2018 by Phil10