Messy roommates spiraled into an OCD diagnosis: A tale of filth and bugs
Longtime lurker of this sub, but my roommates finally got to me. TLDR at the end.
I (20FTM) have contamination OCD, my psychiatrist and I have recently figured out. I've always had OCD-like tendencies and suspected I have health OCD too. I think roommates were the trigger that led to me getting diagnosed.
I made the cruel mistake of rooming with friends. Well, sort of. One girl (20F, let's call her Roommate A) I roomed with since freshman year after randomly matching with her friend, then Roommate A and I moved in with Roommate A's friend (22F, let's call her Roommate B). My friend needed a place to live, so he signed a lease with us to stay the following year (20M, let's call him Roommate C). I've been living in my current apartment for a little under two years now.
I cannot wait to move out in July.
Around October of last year, I started noticing that everything was messy (developed my frontal lobe or something), and that I was the only one ever cleaning the mess. My psych and I think this was the inciting incident for my OCD getting super bad. Let me give a few examples:
- Seasoning, tomato sauce and oil consistently left all over the stovetop.
- One time, oil coallessed below the burner. There was a puddle. It almost caused a grease fire. No one fessed up. Of course, I cleaned it. I don't even want to think about what would've happened if I didn't discover it.
- Crumbs and random sticky stains all over the counters and floor.
- Trash almost never taken out until absolutely necessary (by me), lid often propped open and makes our entire downstairs smell like trash
- Trash that can't fit in the trash can, as well as (random jars for some reason??) are left by the trash can. This often includes takeout bags from Roommate A, with the old food just left to sit and stink in the open air.
- Dishes left for weeks in the sink by Roommate A and C. Roommate A is the worst at this. She even leaves her dirty dishes in the fridge when the sink is too full and she doesn't want to wash her dishes yet. She leaves her pots to "soak" for days. She's a pre-med major, you'd think that she'd know how smelly bacteria multiplies in the wet, warm Florida climate.
- One time, all of my roommates left dishes in the sink before leaving on Thanksgiving break. I stayed home. Roommate A's tupperware dish had a film of mold at the top
- I don't understand Roommate C's obsession with just, leaving his pan on the stove. Just dirty pan, left there, taking up precious burner space.
- I have never seen them mop or sweep, even though we have both.
- Roommate A consistently leaving her dirty napkins (and even meat bones) on the dining table.
- Roommate C's girlfriend left a Tupperware in the sink for a month, filled with water. It made the entire house smell.
And the bugs. Oh my word, the bugs.
Our apartment complex has a cockroach problem to begin with. It's a sort of townhome situation, so no elevation will save us.
Roommate B found a bug in her rice after coming out of the microwave. Commented on it. Continued to eat the rice. The same day, I found a bug in the Brita filter I brought to the apartment. I had just recently let Roommate B use it. I was this close to bringing the Brita into my room and not letting anyone else use it, since, yknow, what the fuck, but decided not to wage war YET.
About a month after, I took out the trash (lid, for once, not propped open) after it smelled like death. A swarm of gnats escapes the trash can. Roommate B -- the only one who buys chicken breasts on those trays rather than in frozen bags -- had left the meat tray at the bottom of the trash can, and the bugs took full advantage of it. I cannot describe how bad the smell was.
My last straw happened a little less than a week ago. For some reason, even though we have a dishwasher, I was majority ruled to use it as a drying rack. I open the dishwasher. Bugs. Tiny little gnats, all over the bottom of the dishwasher. The same kind of bugs in the trash can from Roommate B. Standing water. Even more bugs. Roommate C came down after I complained about their dishes and general uncleanliness.
I stared at the bugs, then stared at him. Pointed at the bugs. He answered, "Yeah. I tried to clean them up."
Huh.
That's it, I had it. I spent the entire day moving every pot, pan, plate, and non-perishable up into my itty-bitty room. Including the Brita, (which, after I announced in the group chat that I was moving everything to my room, Roommate B asked, "Is the fridge dirty too?" Bug in my Brita. Bug. In. My. Brita.).
Is this a normal, well-adjusted thing to do? No, I don't assume so.
Is it difficult bringing all my equipment and food downstairs every time I cook, cleaning my dishes downstairs, and letting them dry in my (very clean, I assure you) bathtub? Most assuredly so.
Am I living on Cloud 9, knowing my food, dishes, and cookware aren't covered in bugs and whatever else my roommates manage to fling everywhere? Yes, absolutely.
I'm not sure if any of my roommates use Reddit, but if they do and you're reading this: You already know my gripes with your cleanliness and how it has impacted my OCD. If you want to live in filth, leave me out of it. I love you all as people, but cannot continue living in peace as roommates.
TLDR: Roommates so messy, I was finally diagnosed with OCD. Typical roommate struggles, not doing dishes, dirty counters, and other common spaces. Bugs infested our kitchen due to the actions of my roommates. I got so fed up, I moved every kitchen item of mine into my room.