Daily anxiety

[phil06]

I also think you're going to have to change your mindset if this therapy is going to help you. It isn't the therapist's job to convince you something is clean. That's your job, with advice, techniques and support from the therapist. It's also not your neighbour's job to magically know you have OCD and are very particular about where you want the bin. If the therapy is going to be beneficial, you will have to take some responsibility for your own issues and recovery. Good luck.

Thanks.

I am more at the blame game blaming which neighbour touched it and my partner for putting the bucket outside. I am coming to terms with I am in a neighbourhood which takes bins out because a few weeks ago a neighbour put our bucket out after I missed a collection. So this is the issue I fear this bucket issue could cause quite a lot of anxiety some stuff passes my mind but the windows issue in my old house lasted years. I now feel disgusted with the front garden the outside just feels dirty now. I use to go out and do weeds in the garden now that idea doesn’t appeal.

The issue isn’t the bin now it’s the ground I will worry about putting anything on the ground (expect shoes) may be ok with suit cases as I often use to wheel them along the street but anything else will stress me. Don’t ask me why shoes bother me less I have no idea?

[pulisa]

You need to move away from the "blame game" because no one else is "to blame" for you not being able to control what people do in terms of introducing perceived contamination into your property. No one else.

[phil06]

You need to move away from the "blame game" because no one else is "to blame" for you not being able to control what people do in terms of introducing perceived contamination into your property. No one else.

Yes I know but it’s hard right now I am playing over on my mind why it happened and if I had moved the bin only issue is that would have caused me more anxiety. Obviously the ground is already dirty but if you remember I said I used two strimmers in my garden as the bins touched the bottom of the garden that’s the issue. Not much can change my mind I will think it’s contaminated now. It’s very annoying how neighbours don’t care and I am beating myself up over the fact I don’t have a fence up. It could get worse they could do it in the future? Even if I ripped all the slabs and stones up I would think that area is spoiled now

[BlueIris]

You have no right to be annoyed by your neighbours over this, Phil. It's not their job to accommodate your mental illness.

[Carys]

It’s very annoying how neighbours don’t care

Jeez Phil, your thinking is SO skewed! It was BECAUSE the neighbours cared that they kindly brought your bin in for you after it had blown over. I'd have been delighted if one of mine was kind like that. It is YOU who has the problem, and not them.

[phil06]

Jeez Phil, your thinking is SO skewed! It was BECAUSE the neighbours cared that they kindly brought your bin in for you after it had blown over. I'd have been delighted if one of mine was kind like that. It is YOU who has the problem, and not them.

Yes I admit that I do know it’s me with the issue but that’s why I am annoyed because the neighbours don’t know about my ocd. Sure I could tell them all I even considered leaving a note but it’s too late now. I may continue to beat myself up over it one time a neighbour put our bin out without asking so it’s hard to stop them really. They are probably contaminating there door handles ect too. Sure it may seem nice to bring the bucket in I get that but for someone with ocd it’s made my life a nightmare I now won’t want to touch the ground?

[Carys]

They are probably contaminating there door handles ect too.

No they aren't. You think they are and believe they are, but in 'normal thinking' they aren't.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Bins tend to be dirty. Your neighbour did you a favour by wheeling it back onto your property. They didn't wheel it into your kitchen so they something considered normal by everyone. Bare in mind if you leave a note you had better be very careful because you may come across as unreasonable and annoy them. Better to have that conversation face-to-face.

Or change how you think. And as Swan says this is going to be out of hard work you put in or therapy won't work. The therapist is going to be suggesting the same things we are and other than tools & exercises, again which many of us have been suggesting for a long time, they have no tool in their arsenal to change how someone thinks. NHS therapy may be the same as what you have already been having so have a think about why that's not working for you and determine whether it's you, the therapy or the therapist that isn't getting the results.

Those strimmers you talk about are another issue we have discussed about your thinking. Strimmers will be mucky. Grass is dirty. Strimmers could be whirling through cat poo thus are dirty yet you worry the bottom of a bin will make them dirty. This is why you need to be working on retraining your mind to accept what is rational and not listen to what the subconscious is blurting out that may happen.

[phil06]

Bins tend to be dirty. Your neighbour did you a favour by wheeling it back onto your property. They didn't wheel it into your kitchen so they something considered normal by everyone. Bare in mind if you leave a note you had better be very careful because you may come across as unreasonable and annoy them. Better to have that conversation face-to-face.

Or change how you think. And as Swan says this is going to be out of hard work you put in or therapy won't work. The therapist is going to be suggesting the same things we are and other than tools & exercises, again which many of us have been suggesting for a long time, they have no tool in their arsenal to change how someone thinks. NHS therapy may be the same as what you have already been having so have a think about why that's not working for you and determine whether it's you, the therapy or the therapist that isn't getting the results.

Those strimmers you talk about are another issue we have discussed about your thinking. Strimmers will be mucky. Grass is dirty. Strimmers could be whirling through cat poo thus are dirty yet you worry the bottom of a bin will make them dirty. This is why you need to be working on retraining your mind to accept what is rational and not listen to what the subconscious is blurting out that may happen.

Yes that’s true I but atleast if the therapy fails it doesn’t cost me. I maybe mentioned it before about the dirty laundry I have been able to get that under control. I have since purchased a small wash basket which hasn’t caused me too much anxiety in the past I wouldn’t go near one. I also hit some dirty laundry with my sock and I managed to get over it quickly. My point is this use to cause me much more anxiety but I managed to get it under control perhaps there is hope for the bin issue? For example the other bin fell in my garden but it only caused 50% of the anxiety and I wasn’t as worried as it was a new bin. I know the reason I worry about the other bin because it had a toilet plunger in it. I use to use my hands to unblock but this toilet needs a plunger so I have to throw it away. I am trying to tell myself there is a plastic coating on the bin and any plunger was inside not outside. The issue with the bin germs on the street was troubling me for weeks but it slowly went away.

I am unsure where this worry came from. I mentioned before how I worry about my mums bins as she use to unblock the toilet with a bag. So I probably have this worry about my parents house bins or her parents.

[pulisa]

I think it would be good if you had to pay for therapy because you would need to work harder to justify and make the most of the expense. You can obviously afford to pay.