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Can't deal with my severe OCD please give guidance
I have severe OCD with handwashing. After I use the bathroom I was my hands for over 5 minutes because of fear of spreading the genital herpes virus I have to a object or to other parts of my body. My OCD is so bad my hands now have dermatitis. Tonight I washed my hands for 5 minutes and took out my contacts. And hour later felt like I didn't clean my hands good enough and the genital herpes virus spread to my hands to my eyes I threw away a pair of contacts. How can I control this?
Thank you but I think my biggest fear is spreading the virus from my hands to other objects such as my cell phone and even children. I'm scared that when I walk out of the restroom it's still on my hands waiting to spread
I want you to imagine all the public rest rooms out there and all the people that use them. How many people do you think have genital herpes that use them? I really have no idea but I can tell you that I bet they don't wash their hands for 5 minutes, if at all, and I haven't come down with herpes. You have the virus in you, there is no changing that. There are medications you can take and care you can take if you have a break out.
BUT obviously washing your hands for five minutes is overkill. You need to get to a more reasonable amount of time which in my book is as long as it takes to put soap on your hands, swish it around, and rinse them off. Probably only takes 30 seconds at the most.
The way to beat hand washing is to slowly start doing it less and less. So take a timer with you. If you are doing it for five minutes then do it for four for a week, then three for a week, etc until you are down to a more normal hand washing time. If you have anxiety and feel like running back in the bathroom, then do this breathing technique....Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for five seconds and count this out in your head, and then let it all out through your mouth. Do this breathing until you are calm. In fact, you can do this breathing in any situation and nobody will even know you are doing it. Also try to redirect yourself to something else such as a book or a movie.
If you can't get a handle on this yourself, then you will need to seek professional help.
BUT obviously washing your hands for five minutes is overkill. You need to get to a more reasonable amount of time which in my book is as long as it takes to put soap on your hands, swish it around, and rinse them off. Probably only takes 30 seconds at the most.
The way to beat hand washing is to slowly start doing it less and less. So take a timer with you. If you are doing it for five minutes then do it for four for a week, then three for a week, etc until you are down to a more normal hand washing time. If you have anxiety and feel like running back in the bathroom, then do this breathing technique....Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for five seconds and count this out in your head, and then let it all out through your mouth. Do this breathing until you are calm. In fact, you can do this breathing in any situation and nobody will even know you are doing it. Also try to redirect yourself to something else such as a book or a movie.
If you can't get a handle on this yourself, then you will need to seek professional help.
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Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
http://herpesopportunity.com/about-herpes-facts.php#
Read the part about spreading the virus. It says nothing about putting it on your phone and spreading it somehwere else.