OCD: Contamination

OCD: Contamination

Works Cited

Imagine this...

"The Different Types of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder." The Different Types of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2015.

Lewis, By Tanya. "Contaminated Minds: Why Some People Feel Perpetually Unclean." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 06 Nov. 2013. Web. 19 May 2015.

"Mental Contamination in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder." OUPblog Mental Contamination in Obsessivecompulsive Disorder Comments. N.p., 21 Jan. 2015. Web. 19 May 2015.

"Mental Contamination of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD Treated with Cognitive Behavior Therapy-CBT." Mental Contamination of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD Treated with Cognitive Behavior Therapy-CBT. New York Behavioral Health, n.d. Web. 19 May 2015.

Penzel, Fred. "Obsessive Compulsive Disorders." Obsessive Compulsive Contamination Fears (2005): n. pag. International OCD Foundation. 2010. Web. 19 May 2015.

Your family member takes a vacation out of the country for two weeks, when they arrive at home, you notice that they are showing symptoms of an illness that they may have attained from their trip, they cough and sneeze a lot, but they are also too weak to do their daily chores so they need your help to take care of them, what would you do and why?

OCD

obsessive compulsive disorder is the term used to describe the illness who repeats certain behaviors as a result of excessive thoughts.

Living with it...

Diagnosis cont.

• social contact may be limited
• close relationships may suffer
• ability to work may be lost
• may not be able to go out
• may lose ability to function normally
• may not allow others to visit them
• may suffer from physical effects

Musical Learning Style

Causes

Symptoms

- Repetitive hand washing, showering, disinfecting

- Throwing away things thought to be contaminated

- Repeated questioning of others as to whether or not something is

contaminated

- Avoiding certain people, objects, or places due to contamination

- Constant researching to find out whether something is contaminated

- Rituals to neutralize contaminants

- Maintaining clean areas around the house that others cannot enter or

touch

- Repeatedly asking others for reassurance that they are clean

Contamination

This type of learning style can be defined as, "one of eight types of intelligence defined in Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. Musical learning style refers to a person's ability to understand and process sound, rhythm, patterns in sound, relationships between sounds, and ability to process rhymes and other auditory information."

The type of OCD that relates back to the idea of being made dirty or put in danger. This fear is the most common of all OCDS, in fact it accounts for a quarter of all OCD fears.

The most common fears of contamination derive from:

1)Dirt & Germs

2)Household Items

3)Environmental Contaminants

4)Bodily Waste/Secretions

5)Sticky surface

6)Animals/insects

7)Magic/Religion

• Fear of getting a disease/illness (usually death)
• An irrational fear of germs/dirt
• Having an “overvalued” idea
• where to some people it's nothing but to someone with contamination ocd it is the biggest and most important thing to them
• Having OCD is believed to be a response that has been learned in order for an individual to prevent any worries or anxiety or to just reduce their discomfort
• fear of being contaminated by real things such as viruses, bacteria, bodily waste etc.
• fear of being contaminated by magical things such as bad luck, bad traits/dislikable traits.
• Some people won't do simple things such as:
• Shake someone’s hand
• Touch a door handle
• Visit hospitals
• Being in a crowd
• Use public restrooms

Treatment

So....

Family & Friends

Diagnosis

Causes Cont.

The treatment for Mental contamination is Cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT is a form of treatment that focuses on examining the relationships between thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It has been suggested that some progress can be made in treating contamination obsessions and washing compulsions by addressing feelings of dirtiness and contamination that arise without physical contact with a tangible contaminant.

If I were to walk into your closet right now, how would it be arranged? Is there any specific reason as to why it is a specific way?

Usually triggered by a life event

•Someone who has been harmed in some way

◦abusive relationships/beating

◦sexual abuse

•Ex: a patient found out that her husband was cheating on her

◦felt dirty

◦washing hands after touching his belongings

◦washing hands after just talking to him

◦mental contamination is more about human interaction

◦emotional experiences

◾humiliation, betrayal, degradation, criticism

◾loss of self-respect

◦memories/reminders

◦Ex: In Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” Lady Macbeth helps to murder someone and as she is washing the blood off of her hands she mentions how she feels as though her hands will never be clean.

•The causes of contamination ocd in many people is sexual related

◦sexual thoughts

◦sexual orientation fears (SO-OCD)

◾fear of becoming LGBT

◦sexual behaviors that are upsetting once thought about

◾rape/abuse

◦fear of becoming sexually aggressive

◦becoming a pedophile

Major Themes

- Contamination results in harm to self or others

- Simple awareness that a contaminant is “just there”

- Bugs, and concerns over bug related contamination (different from just

phobias)

- Washing rituals as efforts to remove undesirable thoughts or ideas

Typical Fears

- Getting or spreading an illness

- Contact with bodily fluids

-Becoming poisoned by household chemicals

The friends and family of people suffering are encouraged to not take part in any type of ritual that their beloved is compulsive with, in fact they are encouraged to face the fears, this may mean:

• touching or coming into contact with the thing that the person fears
• visiting places thought to be contaminated
• getting close to people thought to be contaminated
• using possessions that may be feared
• helping to challenge the belief of fear
• allowing clean areas to become essentially "contaminated"
• coming in contact with feared numbers or words

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