A lot of times I take a shower right after cleaning the toilet. At this point, it's mostly just habit. I shower in the evening, so it's easy to just end the day with cleaning and hop in the shower (and drop my cleaning clothes right in the wash, of course).
But I'm sure that some of it's OCD-based. I'm finding, however, that as my OCD loosens its grip, sometimes I do exposures without even realizing it.
I do occasionally clean the bathroom without a shower these days. And last week, after I took my shower, I realized I'd put the same "grubbies" right back on- I'd completely forgotten to drop them in the wash. In fact I still haven't; I'm wearing the same clothes right now, again.
Sometimes when I do these accidental exposures, I still have moments of fear. But usually I figure if my brain doesn't care enough to do the compulsion in the first place, I'm not going to do it after the fact either. I hope I continue to move in this direction.
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You are stronger than you think!
1 year ago
Good for you! I've found, too, that sometimes I don't realize until after the fact that I've made it through an exposure without compulsive actions.
ReplyDeleteI still like to shower after cleaning the toilet too. However, i do remember a time when i was in university where i did housecleaning for part of the summer. Naturally we'd clean 1 house and then go right to the next, with just a handwash.
ReplyDeleteSo i know that i don't HAVE to shower- there's no 'rule' stating i must. I'd still rather do it, because after using that scrub brush and sloshing water over the edge of the toilet and cleaning THAT up, i like showering.
Maybe i wasn't so picky when i did it for others ( i also didn't have contamination ocd, i had scrupulosity, but i didn't know it ). Maybe others slosh less. I am also a messy painter, so i usu. shower after painting too!
Anyway good for you that you left those clothes on without making a deal out of it.
Congrats!
Woo hoo! Good for you. :) I couldn't do it. I mean, I could. But I'd be a basket case. :) Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to hear about this progress! It is so incredible when you realize you did an accidental exposure and just didn't even care at the time.
ReplyDelete