Brushing against things

[BigDave]

Hey, it's been a while.

Everything has been going OK for a while but I am getting sick and tired of this issue I am having with regards to brushing up against things. Whether it's brushing against the bin when I walk past or whether it's brushing against the toilet with my arm when I grab the disinfectant to wipe up the urine on the floor that my brother spills. Or if it's brushing against the cats bum or the dirty laundry basket. Tonight, the big one is brushing against the toilet with my arm when reaching into get the disinfectant. I don't know why my folks put the disinfectant there but I always feel like i'm on tenterhooks whenever I have to grab the disinfectant. Now I am thinking I am spreading toilet germs all around my room. I casually washed my arm - but I am thinking that I didn't wash it thoroughly enough. So all this rubbish is going round my head. Now, I am pretty sure your response will be to just get on with it but the fact that my arm may have touched the toilet is making me feel horrible. 

Any helpful advice?

 

[OxCD]

Imagine the worst happened and you touched the toilet. Imagine you fell over and accidentally licked the toilet seat. Almost certainly nothing bad would happen. I reckon statistically you’d have to do that hundreds of times to get even a minor ailment.

[daja]

I’m the same BigDave. A girl brushed past me on the pavement today so I changed by shirt when I got home. I’m always worrying about brushing against public toilets etc

Edited July 28, 2020 by daja

[OxCD]

To be honest I’m the same too - though not toilets or people. It’s all about doubt and uncertainty I think.

[BigDave]

I think you're right. I am actually always worried that I am typing the wrong thing into messages or on websites by mistake and that someone is going to take my details and destroy me or something. I am an absolute mess with these sorts of things. But the chances of me actually doing that are probably slim. But yeah, I am kind of in a tortured place at the moment. It stinks!

[OxCD]

@BigDave I know. It is really rubbish. When I have a moment of doubt I seem to lose all sense of being rational. It feels so real at the time though. Goes to show you can’t trust your instantaneous perception. Tricky bit is training yourself out of it. As well as gritting your teeth and ignoring the compulsions (even though it’s scary and it hurts) - does anyone have any tips to make the process less painful? 

Edited July 29, 2020 by OxCD

[PolarBear]

Yeah, keep not doing compulsions amd exposing yourself to what you fear, over and over again until it doesn't bother you. That's it.

Painful at first but it does get better.