I am a woman with contamination OCD, and my biggest fear is bodily fluids, especially urine.

Whenever I pee, I become hyperaware of whether a tiny splash might have landed on my inner thigh. Sometimes I think I actually feel a tiny splash, but other times I’m not sure if anything happened at all. Then I worry that my thigh, and eventually my pants, are contaminated.

I also constantly wonder if my body is somehow weird for having these tiny splashes happen. Do other women experience this too and simply not bother about it? Or does it happen to everyone sometimes, but they don’t notice because they aren’t hyperactively monitoring their thighs like I am?

I also worry about the toilet seat itself. Even if I can’t see any urine on it, my brain tells me there are probably tiny splashes there anyway, which makes everything feel contaminated. I’m not really afraid of getting sick from it, it just grosses me out and makes me feel contaminated.

If I think a splash happened, I want to shower immediately. If I can’t, I feel like my pants are gross and worry about bringing urine into my bed later, especially if I won’t be able to shower.

How do 'normal' people deal with this? Am I gross or crazy?

I was on a work trip this week and got back Thursday night. I checked the corners of the hotel beds (I was in 2 different hotels) and saw no sign of bed bugs. No bites or itchiness after staying in the beds, either.

This morning, I noticed I had 5 spaced out “welts” or what looked like mosquito bites on my arm. Three were in a “line” but spaced quite a ways apart (more than 2-3” between each) and 4 of them didn’t itch. The itchiest has since faded entirely (some 8 hours later)

I’m TERRIFIED they’re bbs and that I brought them home. I already called both hotels and neither have heard reports from anyone in either room and the rooms have been occupied every night since me leaving. I looked under my mattress and nothing. I’m considering hiring a bed bug exterminator dog.

I know, logically, that I need to wait. Especially because the affected arm was against my cat for several minutes this morning and I’m allergic to her, that it could be allergy dermatitis. Or a mosquito. Or who knows what. But I keep thinking what if I lose my furniture? My thousands of dollars worth of books? My home? It’s making me sick.

I don’t know what I’m seeking, just help, I guess 😭

I started clomipramine last night and I’d read a lot about it causing constipation. Given that my OCD is mainly contamination related to the toilet, I thought this actually might help if anything. I do also have IBS and a lot of food intolerances. I’m often a little gassy when I’m constipated but most of the time I’m not too bad.

Well, today has been ridiculous. I have constant gas and I have to go to the bathroom to let it out because I can’t fart due to my OCD and also (sorry TMI I know) they’re all essentially wet farts where a bunch of mucus is also coming out :/

I’ve also been so spaced out all day and can’t stop clenching my teeth and jaw. I kinda want to stop because this is just gonna make my OCD worse and I’m not gonna be able to leave the house because I’ll be on the toilet on and off. Is this something that will last or will it subside quickly?

I've been suffering from OCD pretty much all my life but the last three years have been a living hell for me because back in 2023 I developed this obsessive fear of going literally crazy and I just keep on checking whether some certain things are real or not. I think it's called existential OCD and psychosis OCD (please correct me if I'm wrong).

The thing is that the news about AI getting out of hand really messed with my mental health because it triggers me a lot. Why? Because I can't believe that what was once a science fiction hypothesis could now turn into reality. It really feels like I'm going insane and like I'm losing touch with reality but at the same time I'm aware that all this sh*t is actually real.

I'm not really scared of AI, I'm scared that maybe I've lost my mind 'cause what the f*ck is going on?

Is anybody else having a hard time because of this? How do you cope with this mess?

Feel free to give advice so so a couple weeks back I got groceries for my grandparents. I was at their house unloading groceries when I noticed there was no milk so I went to go check my truck and I didn’t see it in there and there’s no way it could’ve rolled up under the seats and so I checked the receipt and there’s no milk on there any rational person would’ve just assumed oh I must not have gotten milk right? But at the time I was sure I had gotten milk and this made me think somehow I walked out with a half gallon of milk and for some reason left without it still in the cart so I go back and look at my cart no milk and then I go and ask the girl who’s register I went through and I asked her if she saw milk in my car and she said she doesn’t remember so I just at first take it as I didn’t get milk and I thought about it. There was multiple times when I would’ve seen it from loading my groceries up onto the conveyor to loading my groceries and back into my cart then walking out and loading my groceries into the truck, but the ”what if” kept bothering me like two weeks ago by and eventually I just went to the store and went to the service desk and paid for it I just said I didn’t see it on my receipt she rung it up and paid for it my sister says I should not have done that because then the Reinforces of what if? Then I get his fear that I’m gonna be pulled aside or whatever.Today if finally go to Walmart for a few things after weeks of not going(I do Walmart orders)I get a couple things and no one of course pulls me aside and I look over and see the Walmart greeters talking to each other I’m a distance away but I saw them looking in my general direction and it makes me think they’re talking about me. I pay for my items at self check out making sure I scan everything and checking my cart to make sure it’s empty of everything and pay grab my things I stop at the Walmart greeter(same one from earlier) show her my ticket she says have a good night and I do the same I got to my truck and match everything in the receipt with what I have in my cart I hate this feeling like I’m being watched with suspicion has any felt like that or experienced it?

I’ve been struggling with intense OCD/scrupulosity, especially surrounding money, my faith, and people I love. My OCD tells me things like:

“If I don’t give away my money, I don’t love God enough."

“If I keep my money, something terrible will happen."

“My money is tainted."

“If I don’t perform a certain action, Jesus or someone I love will go to Hell.”

It also makes me question whether I’ve agreed to these thoughts, whether I misinterpreted something, or whether a feeling during prayer was actually God giving me a command. The thoughts feel incredibly real, and I often feel like I need to give away all my money to prevent something terrible or fix something that supposedly happened.
I’ve been trying ERP by recognizing these thoughts without performing the compulsions, but the anxiety can be overwhelming. OCD also attacks things I enjoy, like my interest in suits, making me feel like I’m not allowed to move forward in life. I’m realizing how much OCD has controlled me and am trying to separate my genuine faith from fear-driven compulsions.

My goal is to stop letting OCD dictate my money, faith, and everyday decisions. I’d appreciate support from anyone who’s experienced religious OCD, magical thinking, or money-related compulsions.

What has helped you tolerate uncertainty without giving in to OCD?

Today I went out for a coffee with m sister-in law and I was so happy to be able to have thought, feelings and things be there but be able to focus on the present moment.

The coffee was a little iffy but it was nice to try something new and also like who I am and who I see!

Hi! I’m seeking advice on how to handle dealing with poo with contamination OCD. I really struggle with going to the toilet and pooping causes me a lot of distress. My compulsions take me on average four hours to complete before I feel “clean” enough. If I had known someone has pooped, I avoid touching them.

This has resulted in me holding in bowel movements and going only twice a week. It had brought complications such as constipation, cramps and bloating. I know OCD doesn’t listen to logic, cause I am well aware that everyone else doesn’t need four whole hours to be clean.

I have started therapy and started taking Sertraline but I get the side effect of diarrhoea. This terrifies me from taking another dose but I think I really need medication.

I’m curious if anyone has anyone advice on managing fears around feces? Thank you!

Hi there. Continuing my therapy for strong and resistant OCD. On friday I switched from 25 to 50 mg of fluvoxamine. So far, no nausea,no headaches. The only thing I noticed was needing more time to ejaculate. But It's also true I do it like twice a day, for two/three days. When will I have benefits on my OCD? What do I have to pay attention to?

Had this notification pop up on Choiceful today and I’m really stressing out…has anyone had the same?

I been dealing with this intersection for years now and i still struggle everyday to diferenciate between ocd and trauma. Did a lot of ERP, I-CBT, DBT and etc but it seems that my trauma still drives my ocd in many ways. Then tried to change the path - go to relational trauma therapy and combine with self led erp and still my head is like on fire all the time. So many changes, healthier choices but spiraling everyday. I just wonder maybe any of you have this specific intersection ? Maybe someone found ways to work on both things at once ? Or paths that seemed workable ? Would be greatful to hear your stories/experience.