Excessive hand washing

[Kpb16]

Hi, hope all is well. I’ve been washing my hands excessively and I can spend 20-30 minutes doing so and it’s starting to hurt my legs and knees. I do need help please on how to stop. Thanks.

[Petal22]

Hi Kpb16,

Wellcome to out forums!

So sorry this is happening to you……

Can I ask you if it is intrusive thoughts that are leading to you performing this behaviour?

I understand intrusive thoughts, anxiety…….. I had severe anxiety OCD….. obsessive compulsive disorder it’s a anxiety disorder….it was a very distressing exhausting disorder to have…….. I’ve now recovered from it thanks to the help of health professionals….

My condition would start with intrusive thoughts this would lead me to annalyse, question the thoughts….. my anxiety would be severely high due to these thoughts so I’d perform a compulsion to try to bring my anxiety down eg… seeking re assurance, google searching, checking things, finding the right coloured sock, all people have different compulsions if I didn’t do the compulsions I’d feel something bad would happen to someone…. It was so exhausting…….. I would get a little relief from doing the compulsions but it wouldn’t be long and the anxiety would be back and the cycle would repeat again…..

OCD is a vicious cycle but the good news is it’s very treatable! My recovery started from seeing my gp my gp put me on a antidepressant to help me to manage my anxiety, we did a mental health plan together this then enabled me to see a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist who diagnosed me with OCD……. This then led me to a OCD clinic that specialised in OCD…. This is we’re I learned to master my OCD…. It took perseverance to learn the skills I was taught but im now free of the condition…….. 4 years going strong…the therapy I did was meta cognitive therapy……. I highly recommend it for OCD…..

I highly recommend you seek help from your gp and do a mental health together…… ask for a referral to see a clinical phycologist……. I believe a clinical phycologist would be better for you to see than a normal psychologist….. a clinical psychologist can diagnose a normal psychologist can’t…….

When you have the urge to wash your hands try to put your attention on something in the present moment…… not on your thoughts…….. put your attention on something like if you are reading a book how does the pages feel? What can you hear?

Your not alone……

im here to chat to you 😊 ask me anything

[geoff]

Hello Kpb, thanks for posting your comment.

I am sorry that you have this obsessive need to wash your hands and although this can happen to those suffering from OCD, it may easily be caused by this COVID.

If I can explain, is that I taught myself to get OCD at a very young age and have been suffering from it for 60 odd years and when this virus started we were told every day and at every available opportunity that 'we need to keep washing our hands', so this can cause certain people to be conscious this needs to be done and if by any chance you are susceptible to obtain this illness (which I'll discuss in a moment) then this continual hand washing may develop.

OCD can be passed down by inheritance, parents, grandparents or such who have also had this illness may pass it on to a specific person, it doesn't mean that everyone will inherit it like my twin doesn't have it, but I do, or a small obsession may grow such as this COID.

Now it's happening makes the counselling difficult to obtain because of the lockdown so you could copy and paste these in your browser

-how to self help OCD while covid is on

-how to manage OCD during covid

Would like to hear back from you when you are available.

Geoff.