Is this a reasonable concern?

[BelAnna]

Hi,

My Mum just held a friend's baby, who had a poonami and pood on my Mum's top. I freaked out a bit because although I'm fine with my own family's poo (including my baby nephew) as we are naturally exposed to some fecal bacteria in the house (as anyone is in their own house); I am really not OK with other people's faeces.

My Mum has decided to vanish spray her top and soak it in a big cooking pot on the hob as a pre-wash. My laundry is in the washing machine so she cannot put it straight in.

I objected to someone trying to spray it with gloves on so my Mum just did it with bare hands (which is much worse!). 

Am I being unreasonable to object to having someone else (albeit a baby's)'s faeces in a pot on the hob??

I feel so angry about it.

[paradoxer]

The fact that you're asking this on an OCD forum might give you a clue,  why not just ask on a general health forum?

[BelAnna]

8 minutes ago, paradoxer said:

The fact that you're asking this on an OCD forum might give you a clue,  why not just ask on a general health forum?

Honestly I sort of think some non-OCDers would be bothered by this. After all it's someone else's poo and it's on the kitchen surface. Obviously contamination OCD makes it worse!

[gingerbreadgirl]

Honestly..... this would bother me a bit.  I would get over it though.

BUT - you are really asking the wrong question here.  You have contamination OCD which makes things different.  It is no longer about preference, it is OCD in the driving seat.  Maybe once you've got better from OCD you will find you still have a preference for certain things - or maybe you'll find that actually, you don't give a stuff.  But for now, OCD is running the show so the key question isn't "should I be bothered by this" but "how can I use this as an opportunity to improve my OCD".

Break Free from OCD talks about taking the anti-obsessional path, which means doing things which non-sufferers may not do, precisely because you want to attack your OCD. So regardless of what a non-sufferer would or wouldn't do or feel, you have to take the long view with regards to your OCD.  And by far the best thing you can do is leave this, don't ruminate on it, don't research, don't ask for opinions, don't do anything - just ride out your anxiety.  And doing that will chalk up a win against your OCD.

[Angst]

I think Gbg is on the right grounds here in that she sees it as an opportunity to learn. I had something similar some years ago. There was a slow leak from my toilet to the outpipe. When I noticed it, I got the first thing that came to hand that happened to be a cast iron casserole pan made by a well known French company. After served it unsusual function, I very rigorously cleaned it. And then cooked a casserole in it. It was not my preference to use the casserole saucepan to collect waste matter. I do not suffer from contamination OCD apart from rodents. Do not be too hard on your Mum she did what she perceived to be expedient at the time.

[Lynz]

There's nothing in a baby's poo that is generally harmful to adults as their guts haven't been properly colonised yet. They also only have sterile food (either breastmilk or sterilised formula), so their poo isn't really proper poo it's just undigested milk mixed with a few other things. If there was anything that could make you ill in a baby's poo then parents would get ill all the time from it when changing nappies etc., which doesn't happen. I work with babies everyday and they literally poo all the time and it does get everywhere, but that's normal. I understand you have contamination issues but there is literally nothing contaminating in a baby's poo.

[BelAnna]

10 hours ago, gingerbreadgirl said:

Honestly..... this would bother me a bit.  I would get over it though.

BUT - you are really asking the wrong question here.  You have contamination OCD which makes things different.  It is no longer about preference, it is OCD in the driving seat.  Maybe once you've got better from OCD you will find you still have a preference for certain things - or maybe you'll find that actually, you don't give a stuff.  But for now, OCD is running the show so the key question isn't "should I be bothered by this" but "how can I use this as an opportunity to improve my OCD".

Break Free from OCD talks about taking the anti-obsessional path, which means doing things which non-sufferers may not do, precisely because you want to attack your OCD. So regardless of what a non-sufferer would or wouldn't do or feel, you have to take the long view with regards to your OCD.  And by far the best thing you can do is leave this, don't ruminate on it, don't research, don't ask for opinions, don't do anything - just ride out your anxiety.  And doing that will chalk up a win against your OCD.

 

8 hours ago, Angst said:

I think Gbg is on the right grounds here in that she sees it as an opportunity to learn. I had something similar some years ago. There was a slow leak from my toilet to the outpipe. When I noticed it, I got the first thing that came to hand that happened to be a cast iron casserole pan made by a well known French company. After served it unsusual function, I very rigorously cleaned it. And then cooked a casserole in it. It was not my preference to use the casserole saucepan to collect waste matter. I do not suffer from contamination OCD apart from rodents. Do not be too hard on your Mum she did what she perceived to be expedient at the time.

 

6 hours ago, Lynz said:

There's nothing in a baby's poo that is generally harmful to adults as their guts haven't been properly colonised yet. They also only have sterile food (either breastmilk or sterilised formula), so their poo isn't really proper poo it's just undigested milk mixed with a few other things. If there was anything that could make you ill in a baby's poo then parents would get ill all the time from it when changing nappies etc., which doesn't happen. I work with babies everyday and they literally poo all the time and it does get everywhere, but that's normal. I understand you have contamination issues but there is literally nothing contaminating in a baby's poo.

 

Thank you so much for your help! I will reply more tomorrow! 

[paradoxer]

On 05/07/2018 at 11:01, gingerbreadgirl said:

Honestly..... this would bother me a bit.  I would get over it though.

BUT - you are really asking the wrong question here.  You have contamination OCD which makes things different.  It is no longer about preference, it is OCD in the driving seat.  Maybe once you've got better from OCD you will find you still have a preference for certain things - or maybe you'll find that actually, you don't give a stuff.  But for now, OCD is running the show so the key question isn't "should I be bothered by this" but "how can I use this as an opportunity to improve my OCD".

Break Free from OCD talks about taking the anti-obsessional path, which means doing things which non-sufferers may not do, precisely because you want to attack your OCD. So regardless of what a non-sufferer would or wouldn't do or feel, you have to take the long view with regards to your OCD.  And by far the best thing you can do is leave this, don't ruminate on it, don't research, don't ask for opinions, don't do anything - just ride out your anxiety.  And doing that will chalk up a win against your OCD.

Absolutely right, and spot on. Great post. The whole crux.