Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder, more specifically, an anxiety disorder. OCD is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized b...
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OCD and cleaning
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I am cleaning ALL the time. I have a three year old who is constantly making a mess. I must clean her room a lot during the day because I hate to feel that it is dirty even though it's just toys. It's gotton to the point where I don't like her bringing her toys out of her room. I know this isn't good for her so I do let her brings a few toys out at a time if playing in the living room.
Cleaning to me has almost become a sort of stress reliever lately but can easily turn into frustration irritability and sadness when I feel it is not clean enough. I just focus on cleaning and block everything elese out. When my house is clean to my liking I feel so much better....almost like I cleaned all the stress away. I can't leave my house unless everything is clean and in order or even go to bed at night. I can't relax for the night unless everything is clean...dishes put away..vacum..laundry..etc. Throughout the day if I feel my house isn't clean enough I am extreamly irritable, anxious, sad, and depressed. I hate having to feel that way and I am just so tired of it. I'm just wondering if anyone goes through this as well or has gone through it in the past. Thanks Amy Posted on 07/20/08, 09:07 pm |
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You must realize if you have OCD that cleaning like you describe is a compulsion(especially if you would be terribly anxious if you didn't clean). That compulsions are part of the feedback loop that strengthen the obsession. Think of compulsions as the fuel to the OCD fire.
The best way to get relief is thru the help of a cognitive behavioral specialist in OCD. Learn little by little to reduce the "need" to clean and reduce the time spent in compulsive activity. A helper is needed to help structure your goals and to keep you accountable. Perfection is not needed, just baby steps along the way to getting your life back to a more manageable state. I've had the compulsion to clean my hands(not the house though I am sure my wife wouldn't mind that lol). The obsession is always that I've picked up some contaminant. I wish you the best, I know how hard this disease is. 
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I know this is terribly difficult but the best way to fight OCD is to go through the fear(and avoid the compulsions). I scratched my glasses nearly two weeks ago and have been wearing them in the messed up state since(even though for the first few days the obsession was bad).
If you are fighting depression, try to do something enjoyable. Things can get better if you work at this. I really empathize with anyone suffering from this horrible disease. There will be brighter days ahead.
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i know how you feel. i also have a three year old and no matter how much i clean its never clean enough. i also have a problem with my son dragging toys out of his room. i cant stand clutter! i of course let him because he is a kid and like you said, its not good for him to be confined to playing in the bedroom. i cant sleep if the house isnt clean either. i just cant stop cleaning until everything is spotless. some days it seems like i do nothing but clean. i cant even wipe a spill up off the floor. i have to clean the entire floor, not just where the spill is. it sucks and its really time consuming but i cant help it. if you think of a way to stop this, please let me know!
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Amby, the best way to stop it is under the guidance of a therapist. Again you can't stop it all at once but you can take steps towards that goal.
E.G. let's assume your kid makes a mess. Maybe one goal is instead of cleaning it right away, wait 15-30 minutes. Maybe that's a small incremental improvement. The key is to keep attacking the problem by breaking it down into manageable pieces. It won't be anxiety free, in fact you have to feel anxiety to get better. Let me use something as an example. Let's say I am afraid to drink from a public faucet because I'll get a disease. Maybe the first step is to just look at the faucet and contemplate drinking from it. Then maybe just touch the handle. Finally, over time I progress to taking an actual drink. I have had to do this time and time again with different obsessions. I am restarting therapy so I am sure I'll get to do it again. I wish you both peace and healing from this disease.
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Wow, I just read about my life when I read your post, this is exactly what I went through a few years ago, everything had to be JUST RIGHT before I left , went to bed ,just like you are. I have 3 children, which at the time then were younger, this was about 6 years ago, so they were 15,13 and 9, but I didn't want them making a mess anywhere, I was working full time and the 2 girls were both cheerleaders,and my son played baseball, so my life got out of control, I guess you could say, their activites were interfering with my cleaning and daily rituals, I had a nervous breakdown, BUT things get better, I still do all the cleaning, but I CAN leave the house sometimes without something not being done. It bothers me alot but I can leave it and do it when I get back. I take meds and talk to my therapist about every 2 weeks, she has helped me work through alot of this. I wish you all the best in fighting this, if you EVER need to talk , I am here for you!!!! Take care. God Bless You!!! Lori
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This takes time. I am still having trouble with letting someone help me clean and then not going and cleaning over what they have done. I have learned to do things one room at a time. The little things like dishes or making your bed or cleaning up after your 3 year old is reasonable wether you are OCD or not. Ive been doing like
Mon. clean kitchen, sweep and mop, vacuum house Tues. straighten up living room, dust house, do laundry Wed. clean bathroom, sweep and mop, straighten up bedroom Thurs. vacuum house, clean windows, get cabinets and fridge in order Fri. clean kitchen, dust house, sweep, get grocery list accurate. I still have to stick to this which is still OCD of me, but I feel if I do it like this Im not cleaning all day everyday and Im less stressed. Its hard at first letting things go but over time it gets better.
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I can relate to this...I cannot go to bed if the downstairs is a mess. Upstairs, I do not mind as much. All the dishes need to be put away, the dishwasher empty or running, counters cleaned - everything. When I get really stressed out, I break out the bleach and just start bleaching everything. I literally walk around the house with a bowl of bleach and a rag. For some reason, that helps me feel like I have bleached the stress out or something - lol.
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I have the cleaming bug as well. But not as bad. I don't even let my son play in his room because I know that he will go in there and make a mess. So I bring his toys out into the living area.
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I have issues with this also,it's really hard for me...I know that I cannot get my house perfect..so instead of cleaning all the time I get this frozen feeling and seem to not be able to keep up with anything, On a good day I am not irratable and I get what I can done and let everything else go and feel OK. The bad days are the frozen days and just thinking about how unclean my house is.......I hate it!!!
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