u/moonsalad246

Hi there, I am going through the I-CBT workbook and trying to find an I-CBT therapist to help me. I-CBT has helped me with themes before but I am really struggling to get there with disgust ocd. I understand that obsessional doubts come from our imagination and nothing in the here and now and our senses and therefore they are irrelevant and should be dismissed… but how do I apply this when my disgust fears are indeed fearing the invisible? I fear germs/bacteria/organisms from human bodies and others that are not seen by the eye. I fear cross-contamination that I can’t see. Is the answer simply if we can’t see it we should not worry about it?

It also talks a lot about trusting senses and common sense. But like, it’s common knowledge doorknobs in public places and high touch surfaces in public places can have loads of germs on them even though we can’t see them.,. Would this not then validate washing and cleaning even though we can’t see them because my senses say “you are touching a high touch surface” and my common sense says “they are known to have loads of human germs on them”?

Ultimately struggling to apply all I-CBT concepts to disgust ocd on my own and curious if anyone has success with this.

Thank you

Hi there, I am going through the I-CBT workbook and trying to find an I-CBT therapist to help me. I-CBT has helped me with themes before but I am really struggling to get there with disgust ocd. I understand that obsessional doubts come from our imagination and nothing in the here and now and our senses and therefore they are irrelevant and should be dismissed… but how do I apply this when my disgust fears are indeed fearing the invisible? I fear germs/bacteria/organisms from human bodies and others that are not seen by the eye. I fear cross-contamination that I can’t see. Is the answer simply if we can’t see it we should not worry about it?

It also talks a lot about trusting senses and common sense. But like, it’s common knowledge doorknobs in public places and high touch surfaces in public places can have loads of germs on them even though we can’t see them.,. Would this not then validate washing and cleaning even though we can’t see them because my senses say “you are touching a high touch surface” and my common sense says “they are known to have loads of human germs on them”?

Ultimately struggling to apply all I-CBT concepts to disgust ocd on my own and curious if anyone has success with this.

Thank you

My doctor is switching me to Prozac/fluoxetine since my current ssri isn’t cutting it. I am really nervous going through a med change but I am hoping it is worth it, I am struggling from severe contamination “Disgust” ocd and wondering if anyone has success with this ssri in helping this type of ocd or ocd in general?

My doctor wants me to change my meds from Lexapro (escitalapram) to Prozac (fluoxetine) and I am really nervous. I am afraid of withdrawal symptoms and activation symptoms and fearing my anxiety and ocd will get worse before better which I really can’t afford at this point with how severe it is. But Lexapro just isn’t cutting it and we are at the max dose I can tolerate.

Anyone have any advice on going though a med change when you are already so unwell? Or personal experience of how to do it with as little pain as possible?

I am also nervous it will be for nothing, anyone have experience switching from Lexapro to Prozac successfully?

Has anyone been on clomipramine while pregnant? I am not able to find sound research on it and my psych wants me to go on it for ocd but I hope to be pregnant in the future.

Ok we just got a bidet installed from Amazon. I think it’s great but everytime I use it I feel some light “splashes” around the area it sprays and I am wondering this just from the bidet water? Or is is splashing the toilet bowl water as it drips down and splashing back up at me? It is making me actually feel “unclean” after but my partner is trying to convince me it is just drops from the bidet and therefore perfectly “clean” water.

Thoughts? To recap: do bidets splash down and up on you?

Any success stories on healing from disgust contamination ocd? My contamination ocd started as specific fears of illness etc. but had morphed into a fear of “feeling contaminated and not being able to escape it or stop cross contamination.” It’s awful. I actual missnjust fearing an illness or sickness instead. Because now it feels like once me or my clothes or home are contaminated I can’t stop it and it’s so painful. My ocd mind keeps tracking it and what touches what.

Yes I am in therapy but disgust ocd is nuanced and I am learning it has to be treated differently than regular fear based contamination ocd and I havnt found all the right answers yet through therapy so just wondering if others have success stories.

Warmly

As title suggests. Curious if anyone’s knows of a shampoo and conditioner that comes with a safety seal or factory seal like medicine bottles or other liquid products do?

Thanks!

Hi there. Just wondering if anyone has any insights, success with this area or suggestions or maybe shared experiences. TW: Bellow I share a few details and I know that reading other people’s ocd struggles can sometimes be triggering so just a heads up if you are currently struggling with COCD that I share some details about my struggles. I don’t want to give your OCD any ideas!…

I am really struggling with contamination ocd and the worst part is I am afraid to touch sink bowls and shower walls which has made washing next to impossible. I am constantly doubting myself wondering if I touched the bowl or walls and rewashing and rewashing because I am not trusting myself and my senses. It’s almost become a trauma response now I get so scared to wash because it’s so stressful. My OCD fear is basically “I wash my hands and shower to get clean and whatever is coming off of me will just get back on me if I touch this.” And of course if the sink bowl and shower are public or at someone’s house I feel the same way but “what if whatever someone washed off will just get back on me?”

I am starting therapy but the level of anxiety I have with this is making it hard to have any success. ANY insights or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

Hi there. Just wondering if anyone has any insights, success with this area or suggestions or maybe shared experiences. TW: Bellow I share a few details and I know that reading other people’s ocd struggles can sometimes be triggering so just a heads up if you are currently struggling with COCD that I share some details about my struggles. I don’t want to give your OCD any ideas!…

I am really struggling with contamination ocd and the worst part is I am afraid to touch sink bowls and shower walls which has made washing next to impossible. I am constantly doubting myself wondering if I touched the bowl or walls and rewashing and rewashing because I am not trusting myself and my senses. It’s almost become a trauma response now I get so scared to wash because it’s so stressful. My OCD fear is basically “I wash my hands and shower to get clean and whatever is coming off of me will just get back on me if I touch this.” And of course if the sink bowl and shower are public or at someone’s house I feel the same way but “what if whatever someone washed off will just get back on me?”

I am starting therapy but the level of anxiety I have with this is making it hard to have any success. ANY insights or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

Hi there just wondering if anyone has any success with I-CBT and contamination ocd. Specifically the “feeling” of being contaminated after touching and interacting with things one might perceive as contaminated and feeling like if you don’t wash or clean you will cross contaminate. I love the therapy and it makes a lot of sense to me and resonates, but am struggling with the “trusting your senses part” specifically with the “Abstract Facts” my ocd use to feed its story like “germs are invisible” “people can be very gross and unhygienic and we don’t know who touched what in public and what was on their hands or clothes.”

Just wondering if anyone had any success with i-CBT and contamination or any other therapy that really helped you tackle this?

Thank you kindly in advance

Hi there. I have been struggling with severe contamination ocd for about a year and desperately seeking answers. Although it started small with specific fears and worries, it has basically morphed into me just being afraid of absolutely everything and worried that everything is “contaminated.” The thing is I am actually not afraid of getting sick or illness anymore although that’s how it started. I have done so much learning that my fears are actually not relevant, false, and most of them not actually a possibility, that when I touch something I am not actually worrying about sickness really anymore… from avoidance and practicing treating everything like danger I have conditioned myself to think everything is just contaminated and if I touch it I will be too and I can’t escape it and I will spread it everywhere. I don’t even really know what I am imagining other than I guess feeling something “gross” or “unclean” is on me and not be able to escape it? I am hyper aware when something touched me or someone and I imagine it spreading if it isn’t cleaned or washed immediately. The worst part is hand washing and showering are also so incredibly hard for me for fear of touching the surfaces associated with them that I am just avoiding everything. I am meeting a therapist that suggests my contamination ocd is less about an actual fear and morphed into a form of “just right ick” ocd. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with healing from this and would be willing to share and tips, resources, therapy approaches etc. I imagine ERP is the main answer but curious what this would actually look like and feel like for someone in my case.

Thank you in advance