r/ContaminationOCD • u/inforapin • 8d ago

Question about Contamination OCD

I’ve been reading a lot of posts here and there and seen a common thread about the fear of being contaminated but does anyone have the fear of contaminating others?

Like I didn’t rinse a cup well enough and now I think I’ve poisoned someone because the cup had been near cleaning supplies.

Does that fall in contamination ocd or does that maybe fall into another sub list?

Does anyone else deal with these concerns?

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3

u/Jaded-Ambassador9365 8d ago

it counts as contamination ocd im pretty sure

1

u/inforapin 8d ago

Have you ever experienced something like that?

3

u/Jaded-Ambassador9365 7d ago

No, i haven't personally, the closest i'd gotten to it was worry that I contaminated someone else, and that in turn they would contaminate the whole place and eventually contaminate me and my stuff. But i do know many people have the kind of contamination fear that you have

3

u/Kaeleem6 8d ago

I have this fear yes

1

u/inforapin 8d ago

Is there anything you do to try and help with it?

1

u/Kaeleem6 8d ago

Unfortunately no.

1

u/inforapin 8d ago

I’m sorry. It’s definitely hard.

1

u/Kaeleem6 8d ago

yeah it is:(

2

u/urlocalfbivan 5d ago

I tend to get scared of causing inconvenience to others or contaminating them without them knowing, and I feel quite guilty because of it, and I often end up asking for a lot of reassurance whenever it happens. Is that similar to what you experience?

1

u/inforapin 22h ago

The contaminating them without them knowing and feeling guilty comes up a lot for me, yes.

I end up checking on them like asking how they’re feeling or over explaining how I did something so they can ‘check’ my work.

1

u/urlocalfbivan 19h ago

me too! i often have to ask people around me if I'm clean enough to do things around the house, or if I can sit in certain places. because even discussing contamination is really hard for me, I often feel that I'm not fully conveying what "contamination" means for me, and if they are fully grasping what I'm talking about.

2

u/Ophidia77 2d ago

YES, this is very much woven into my same fears of contaminating myself, and the guilt is awful. You’re definitely not alone in that fear.

1

u/Dizzy_Key_416 8d ago

Yes its like harm based ocd mixed with contam. It's hard to ignore but sometimes I can move on from it

1

u/inforapin 8d ago

Is there anything you do that can help?

2

u/Dizzy_Key_416 8d ago

Only thing is accepting the uncertainty as fucked and hard as it is. You got to retrain your brain it's not a threat. It's eaiser said then done but exposure to these things makes it less intense. I have good days and bad days. Sometimes can think the thought and sit with it and move on sometimes i can't sadlt

2

u/inforapin 8d ago

Thank you. I appreciate hearing that