Mrs

[Charlie0190]

Hi Everyone 

I wonder if anyone else has suffered or suffering this?

as well as germs and contamination which I am desperately fed up with and is a nightmare, I am now dealing with thoughts of over cleaning or chemical contamination. So I am antibacterial wiping and dettol spraying things and then I suddenly have a horrible thought of wiping the kitchen surfaces and the chemical going into our cooking or fridge etc… so I want to clean because of my germ phobias but now I’m writing about the actual cleaning!!! Help! Xxx

[LauraOCDUK]

Hi Charlie0190!

Yep, that is definitely one way my OCD has gone in the past  so I empathise- it created a catch 22 of everything being contaminated by germs unless I cleaned it with the cleaning regime OCD decided was necessary, but then the cleaning products themselves feel that they could be poisoning me and my loved ones. OCD can really back you into a corner and at some point, in order to function it is necessary to start challenging OCD through CBT with ERP. Are you getting any support with it?

[Charlie0190]

Hi Laura, 

I have just realized I didn't reply to this- apologies!

No I am not at the moment  I am on medication but due to discuss this further tomorrow.

I really want to see a therapist, but I keep getting referred to talking apsce plus, and I have been with them twice now and didnt find it helpful.

Can you point me in a different direction? xxx

[LauraOCDUK]

On 03/08/2022 at 14:39, Charlie0190 said:

Hi Laura, 

I have just realized I didn't reply to this- apologies!

No I am not at the moment  I am on medication but due to discuss this further tomorrow.

I really want to see a therapist, but I keep getting referred to talking apsce plus, and I have been with them twice now and didnt find it helpful.

Can you point me in a different direction? xxx

No problem at all! Hope the medication discussion went well!

Assuming you live in England, the first step in treatment for OCD is CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) provided by your local IAPT service - it sounds like Talking Space Plus is one of those from what you've said. In some areas there is a choice of providers, so you may be able to choose to see a different service. You can find your local IAPT(s)  here, the ones you can access are determined by the GP you are registered at: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/find-your-gp . If that is the only one in your area and it has not been helpful, the next step would be to go to your GP and ask to be 'stepped up' to secondary care  for treatment that is more specialist and longer term as IAPT has not been able to help you make progress.