Contamination OCD
Contamination OCD: Obsessions related to contamination and compulsive behaviors to decontaminate. Fears could include contracting an illness or spreading germs. Contamination OCD is one of the many diverse OCD Sub-types that exist. Obsessions can include intrusive thoughts, images, urges, doubts, and fears. Compulsions are done as a result of these obsessions in order to get relief. Within contamination OCD, we see various triggers arise:
Bodily excretions (urine, feces)
Bodily fluids (sweat, saliva, mucus, tears, etc.)
Blood
Semen
Garbage
Household chemicals
Sticky substances
People who appear unwell shabby or unclean
Spoiled/Rotten food
Asbestos
Pets
Birds/Rats/Insects
Dead animals
Listed are just a few examples of common fears, the list may vary and is more extensive than what is shown. While listed above are more physical triggers of contamination. There are examples of more “Magical” triggers/fears that might contaminate me, such as:
Thoughts
Words
Names (of illnesses, disabilities, people who are ill, or disabled, or who have died)
Places where bad things have happened
Mental images
Bad luck
Fears and obsessions exist because of these triggers. Examples might include that I will touch something dirty in the bathroom, I will spread those germs or diseases to my loves ones, or something bad that happened to my neighbor will be magically transferred to me. Obsessions, triggers and feared responses develop because of these obsessions. Compulsions (behaviors to get relief from the obsessions) are then reinforced and engaged with.
Excessive/ ritualized hand washing
Disinfecting or sterilizing things
Throwing things away
Frequent clothes changes/ or showering
Creating clean areas off-limits to others
Avoiding certain places or touching things
In an attempt to keep clean or avoid contamination, one might engage in these compulsions and create a life around them based on these fears. These compulsions become excessive, take time to complete and create a comfort zone that gets smaller and more limiting. Often, your supports around you might help keep you stuck in the OCD cycle and accommodate your OCD. Parents may accommodate their children and let them shower for hours or take off/change clothes before coming into their room. My partner might avoid touching me without washing their hands first. Accommodations are done by supports to help reduce the distress the person is facing. But these accommodations keep the person from facing the fears and end up strengthing the OCD.
This fear of contamination can lead to hyper vigilance and responsibility. The pressure I might put on myself to prevent germs or disease from spreading can lead to the development of the compulsions. Despite these fears, the right treatment is available. In therapy, we will use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to help you manage the OCD. ERP is an evidence based treatment that proves to be one of the most effective in treating OCD. In ERP, we gradually expose ourselves to the fears in small dosages. Learning effective response prevention measures and how to break the pattern of engaging in compulsions when facing distress. With ERP, you are able to learn effective measures in dealing with distress, proving to yourself that you can handle distress on your own without OCD. When the Covid-19 pandemic started, fears of contamination were rampant and at times valid and justified. It was easy to justify compulsive contamination behaviors when there was so much uncertainty in the world. When fears and obsessions get to the OCD level where functioning is reduced and I am spending hours on my compulsions, ERP is the way to gain back that sense of control and independence. For further information, please do not hesitate to reach out and schedule a consultation. I would love to speak with you further on how ERP can help challenge your OCD.
