Do I have signs of OCD?

[CoffeeAddict19]

hi! I'm a 14 y/o girl and these problems just recently started about a year ago.

1. I never feel clean. I constantly feel like I need to take a shower after touching or doing something.
the only time I ever feel clean is when I've just gotten out of the shower & put fresh clothes on or I'm touching something I own & no one else has touched.

2. I feel like everything I touch is dirty & contaminated. If I go & say use the washroom & touch toilet paper, then wash my hands & then go touch my phone, I immediately feel like my phone is dirty so I'll clean it along with my hands; even though I already washed them recently.

3. I don't like to be touched by certain people. If say strangers or my Mom touch me, I'm fine; but if my brothers or Dad touch me, I get really depressed & irritable & immediately feel dirty & like I need to litterally scrub off the area of my skin that they touched in the shower; but even then I don't feel like their "dirtiness" is completely washed off of me.

(it's especially bad with my brothers; one of them touched me yesterday & I immediately went to go take a shower & I've felt dirty & been in a sad mood since.)

4. I can't eat without feeling dirty. If I get say bread crumbs or any kind of food on my fingers or mouth,
I immediately feel like I'm dirty & need to take a shower to clean myself even though I know it's ok.

I guess I have a really OCDish cleanliness problem & I wish I could stop it! It's really affecting my life... *sigh* :(

[zagor]

Yeah, it is kind of sounding like that. I was really bad OCD in HS and beyond. It severely affected my grades and my enjoyment of life. I had to read each page 5+ times "to make sure I really got the point". I gave up on a lot of reading because of this. I took REALLY long showers - missed a lot of things because of this. Up to 80 minutes in the shower, and I WASN'T playing anything fun. Just trying to get clean.

I think you should try to get help for this; I really wish I had. I finally got past most of it on my own, but I feel like I really missed out on a lot.

[CoffeeAddict19]

what helped you get past most of it?

[zagor]

It was mostly getting older and more self-aware. But I wish I had dealt with it and had been able to get more out of that part of my life.

[OceanaOnline]

I'm sorry to hear. :(

I just wish I could stop it, you know? It's like in my mind; I know everything I do is obsessive yet I can't seem to stop myself from doing those things. for ex: the average person changes their bed sheets every 2 weeks, where I do it almost 10 times a month b'cuz I feel like they're dirty when they're not.

[arashmenalagha]

I know what you are saying. I used to be like that when I was 4 years old. A drop of water on my clothes and I would change my shirt.

[CoffeeAddict19]

are you still like that now or has it gone away?

[arashmenalagha]

it's gone haha

[TripleAce]

What kind of touch are we talking about here?
Like I could put my hand on your arm and you'll then want to go shower after that?

[CoffeeAddict19]

yes.

[TripleAce]

Sounds intense

Its great that you are aware of the situation. Id try to not solidify what you are experiencing as a condition just yet. It might be OCD but try not to label it just yet... A lot of the times things go away and could go away considering you are 15

Are you able to try not to go shower after a small touch? is there a reason you can link this back to somehow?

[CoffeeAddict19]

I guess I could try not to shower but knowing they touched me & I can't wash it off would bother me so much to the point where I'd get depressed. :(