Tainted anxiety ocd

Please define tainted as you are affected

Phil10 said:

I have worried about my garden for months the wheelie bin got put there it had a toilet plunger in this bin one time so I worry the ground is dirty.

My other worry is on Facebook I worry about adding people I worry I spoke to them when I was single on a dating site. So if somebody looks similar I believe they are tainted so can’t add them. How can I tackle this? I also have a similar worry with photos if I see a certain hair style at a tourist spot I worry it’s tainted if I use that photo?

I know these views are distorted but it goes back to everything feeling tainted?

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Only you can deal with this. The best thing to do is ask yourself why you do this, when you fin out the answer confront your demons and change the mindset. Do positive things that your mind is telling you not to do.

OCD is just a manifestation of anxiety. Get the book Phil, it can help you learn how to deal with those obsessions. And yes perfectionism is a symptom of OCD. Some people have Obsessive behavior/OCD, some have social anxiety, health anxiety, etc. When a person has GAD they have a mish mash of all or some of the anxiety manifestations. I’m GAD, with OCD, HA, and SA. It is not an easy task, but it can be done. The book” It’s Only Anxiety”, helps to navigate with a kind of step by step direction to follow. Your obsessions are just a manifestation of your anxiety, fighting them makes them dig in and stay, accepting them and allowing them to happen helps ease the grasp they have on you. Get the book.

What happened to the bent guard rail on the side of the road? That was in the OP last night as is gone now.

To much time thinking things over. Why should the past bother you at all? We all knew and dated people many years ago. Is not like your wife would worry about such things. I am sure she dated people before she met you. Is called life. How they are considered tainted is a mystery. Is not like they are passing germs through a computer screen or anything like that. That is what I would considered as tainted as far as OCD is concerned. Like you catch something from touching things. Wheelie bin would be the classic example. So no idea how this moves onto people on FB at all. They are just names. Can't jump out of the screen and hug you. The whole logic of iy goes way beyond OCD. Hairstyles in tourist spots? I am really trying to see the whole OCD thing in any of that at all. My Nephew has OCD. Your classic OCD. Cleans everything. Carpets. Money. Yes he washes money. You name it, if it can be cleaned he will clean it. Some times five or six times a day. If he said he thought these things were tainted I might see were he is coming from. People walking on carpets. People touching money. Hairstyles in pictures at tourists spots is nothing like that at all. Old names on FB is nothing like that at all. Just try and explain how those things can be tainted in the same way a wheelie bin might be tainted from rubbish been in it?

Howard Hughes, the American billionaire, suffered all his life from OCD. He wore gloves whenever he went out, and being able he had everything disinfected before he sat down to eat in a restaurant.!
In those days, pre WW2 there was little known about OCD. One would think that all the psychiatrists in the world being available to him he would have got help, but no! Germs and bugs were everywhere according to him. And yes they are. But nature has given us a robust immune system and by and large we are able to counter most infections. With some we do need help, like covid.

When you have suffered long enough and are sick and tired of being sick and tired, you will seek help. It might take a long time, but eventually you will get there or fall into apathy, in which case you will no longer care one way or the other about anything, including yourself. You will have worn yourself out completely with all your concerns that don’t amount to a hill of beans. Harsh but necessary, especially if it jolts you into taking positive action.

That is a bit over the top. You would actually sell your house because of some bent guard rail on your road? This is something you really need help for. Not your normal type of help. Have heard you talk before about changing the front door to your house because you thought that was tainted. Plus painting the inside walls of the house for much the same reasons. Must cost you a small fortune.

I am sorry you are suffering. Are you seeking help from a professional?

I can empathize and well done on sharing these OCD thoughts! I know they can be hard to put into words and it takes a lot of courage to open up about it. Thanks for sharing!

I have some contaminaton OCD myself and I know how difficult it can be to open up to others about it. I admit I've done some things that others would construe as odd and irrational (i.e. throw away "contaminated" clothes and wash my car excessively). When it gets to a point where it's disrupting your life, your relationships, and your finances, it might be time to consider seeking professional help.

OCD can make you feel like you're going crazy (It does for me at least) but that's good because that means you realize there's a problem, and perhaps it's time to reach out for help. Counselors are trained to listen compassionately and take in your struggles and questions no matter how seemingly trivial or embarrasing. OCD can be managed and it definitely helps to talk about it in confidence with a counselor, or even a trusted family member or friend. Good luck seeking help, and I'm always happy to discuss and support further

-Camden

Phil10 said:

Tonight I went to the toilet and worried I needed a shower after it so I had one. 2nd of the day. Then I went to the toilet later and worried when I threw the toilet paper in I touched the bowl or water so I sat for 2 hours and tried to resist it. However I couldn’t do it so went in for another shower. I had tension at side of my head and felt I was going crazy. My ocd has suddenly got worse again. I said before when my anxiety is low my ocd increases but when I suffer bad anxiety my ocd worries become less of a worry. I feel I let myself down having 3 showers I tried to say I can wait until tomorrow but nothing would reassure me. Has anybody got any tips for when ocd gets taken over by anxiety? How do I ride these thoughts out if they become over whelming? To be fair tonight is the first in a while the ocd has got that bad but has anybody else experienced this before?

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I haven't experienced what you have, BUT I do know what it's like to fight with your own head. I don't really have a solution other then just to try to distract yourself the best you can. Everything usually feels better when you are caught up in the moment doing something you like that your invested in. It's not easy, but just try. Anxiety Is awful to deal with, and so I'd OCD..both leave you feeling scared, uncertain, and out of control.

I understand this feeling, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to make it better. I wish I did, because these are similar to some of the intrusive thoughts I have, and as much as I know they’re not normal, it doesn’t make me feel any less panicked about things. I don’t always think of things as tainted though. Instead I will often convince myself that I have caused something awful.

I have days when I sit and think life would be easier if I just didn’t go outside, because that way I would have more control over my environment and bad things can’t happen because of me. When I say ‘bad things’ I don’t mean things that are just bad luck and happen to anyone and everyone.. I mean I might see something irrelevant and it’ll trigger something that becomes ridiculously huge in my mind.

I once ran over a flattened can in the road, and it made a noise, it was an empty road otherwise. But as I drove on I convinced myself that I had run a person over (even though I saw the can and knew the road was empty), so I drove back to check (the road was of course still completely empty other than the can) . That wasn’t enough though, and I thought about it all day and kept checking all the local news sites and Facebook groups for anything saying that there had been a hit and run. I can’t go down or look down that road now because it’s bad, ie tainted.

I also won’t add people on Facebook if they’re from times in my life where I have bad memories (even if they’re not connected to the memories). Those people are essentially tainted because they’re connected with that time, and adding them will taint the present.

Hi. Nutmeg. You raise some interesting points which are so common in anxiety OCD. You don't know how to make it better! You think your thoughts are not normal! You have caused something awful! It will taint the present! All totally negative thoughts.
I have said before that what we don't realise is that our body and our thoughts are behaving perfectly normally
IN THE CURCUMSTANCES!! Our body is doing its thing in the face of the fear we create by our thinking. It is acting normally to the flow of adrenaline that comes with fear. By slowing and eventually eliminating fear and accepting it all you begin recovery. By ACCEPTANCE you slow everything down. At the moment you are like dog chasing its tail. Round and round and believing there is no way to stop it.
Many on here may feel that I flog acceptance overmuch. It may not work for everyone, but that is so often because they give up too soon. It takes time, patience and perseverance. It worked for me and has done so for so many. MATD has recommended two books that can help so much. Get them from Amazon.

I’m starting to wonder if people are getting to paid to promote that book on here

Thank you for that advice, the acceptance method is a fantastic thing, and it’s something I’ve used and which was useful for certain things. For anyone newly suffering anxiety it could be the lifeline that stops them sinking any further. But it’s not for everything. There is no one-size-fits all, which is a shame.

Nutmeg said:

I’m starting to wonder if people are getting to paid to promote that book on here

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I make the same joke about a book and am called a bully.

Cuchculan said:

I make the same joke about a book and am called a bully.

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I saw!
apparently we’re all awful people.