OCD Germs

Hi again, @Luna24 , good to see your thread.

I have OCD (germophobia) and am on medication and see a psychologist and psychiatrist regularly. I see both because the psychiatrist is the one who prescribes the meds and the psychologist does the talk therapy. Occasionally you get a psychiatrist who does talk therapy as well, so that way you would only need to see them.

The main therapy for OCD germophobia is ERP Therapy: Exposure Response Prevention Therapy, which is a form of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). I have to tell you now, for the OCD sufferer, ERP therapy is terrifying. It involves exposing yourself to germs but not doing any of the washing /cleaning /wiping rituals in response to the exposure. The great fear is of contaminating the rest of your environment, which feels completely overwhelming - how would I possibly ever cope with my whole environment being dirty /germy?

The ERP therapy is of course undertaken in small steps at first. The idea is that the germophobe sees that they are still OK without doing the wiping / washing rituals. To be honest - it hasn't worked very well for me so far. The rituals or compulsions make me feel safe and in control. I think that in some way my germophobia is a desire to control my environment against threats (I have complex childhood trauma). So maybe if you can talk to your son about how he can exert more control in healthier ways, that might help...but please remember, I am only a peer with lived experience, and his psychologist might suggest other things.

I am not a carer or a parent, so I can't help in those ways - I'm hoping others here can. But I can suggest that if you somehow forcibly removed your son's ways of coping - i.e. you didn't permit his washing /cleaning compulsions - it would probably make him worse - well, it would make me worse, anyway! It has to come from within the person. slowly, over time. My cleaning rituals are actually an awful burden, and I wish I didn't have to do them - but the compulsion is stronger.

But I can tell you that I used to put up to 2L of pure disinfectant into my laundry wash each time, and I also used to wash my hands in pure disinfectant sometimes - and I don't do either of those things any more. That came from within me - it wasn't a result of the ERP therapy.

Wishing you all the best as you cope with this.

Hi again @Luna24 ...just wondering how you are going, and whether you've had the GP appointment for your son yet? I hope it went well, if so...

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@Luna24 wrote:
Hi nature lover
We have appointment this Thursday.
Will definitely let you know how we go x
Thanks for checking in, means more than you know 😊

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This Thursday...all the best. Yes, please do let us know how it goes! 🙂 @Luna24

@Luna24 , how did the appointment with your son go yesterday?

Hoping it went well...

Hi,

My son has germ ocd and he does everything from excessive washing in the shower and at basin, and fears contamination etc...

The list goes on.. he's been dealing with this sinse he was about 14 and has seen two really bad

psychologists and i'm researching for him to go to a new one but having trouble finding someone who really knows what theyre doing.

He is now almost 18 and this thing just doesn't go away on its own 😞

how did the appointment with your son go @Luna24

Hello @kresii and welcome to the forum

@NatureLover

Hi, welcome, @kresii . I'm sorry you are suffering this too, as your son's carer.

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@kresii wrote:

He is now almost 18 and this thing just doesn't go away on its own 😞

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You're right - it can get really entrenched. I guess I've had it most of my life, even as a child, although it wasn't nearly as bad back then. It's worse as an adult, for me. It also sucks as it makes it difficult to socialise sometimes. And at your son's age, that would be so important.

Do you have enough support for yourself, @kresii ?

Thanks for the tag, @Shaz51 ...

Hi,

@NatureLover he is ok but when things are stressful, it all gets worse.

I have hope for him and i'm researching specialist in our area, but its hard to find

someone decent. All we can do is keep trying.

I have zero support, but finding this website is good.

Thanks everyone

@kresii Thanks for your reply. That's good you are hopeful. 🙂

I'm concerned though that you don't have any support at all. I'm wondering how you would feel about going to your GP and getting a mental health care plan? This would entitle you to up to 10 subsidised sessions with a psychologist per year. It might be good to be able to talk through any anxieties and stresses and get some support as a carer. What do you think?