A bizarrely unpredictable time as an Aspie dealing w OCD...

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While we all have "golden eras" in our lives where virtually everything goes right, most of us Aspies tend to have even more dark periods in our lives where either we make all the wrong decisions, or a lot of issues out of our control blow up in our face. And our diagnosis tends to make dealing with these times more of a problem. And I am going through one of those tough times right now.

Ever since my mother was hospitalized for an obstructed bowel, and then she got released, and I've been taking care of her (as well as putting up with her, since she has mental health issues just like I do), while I've tried to get out whenever I can and get some things done around town, I've had to deal with some very unusual situations, some among the last situations I think virtually ANYONE would expect, that have really made me uncomfortable due to my OCD/obsessions with cleanliness that has gotten progressively more of an issue over the past four years, even in 2013-14 when I was really happy with the way things were going in my life, and I wasn't in the mood to let anything bother me.

Today, I got a haircut at a barbershop (I wanted a stylist, so I could get a more professional job, but it seemed like there weren't any good stylist options in my current rough financial time). I've had long hair for a few years now, but I felt like making a big change in my appearance, and going back to short hair, something I've been considering for some time now, but part of me really hasn't been wanting to get rid of my long hair, long story short. There was a couple owning the barber shop, and the man was apparently miffed at me early on because, get ready for this, it appeared to them that I didn't like their small DOGS they had in the barber shop, and I kind of felt uncomfortable when the dog came up to me and started sniffing me.

Now, everyone, please don't misunderstand the situation. I really don't have anything against dogs, or any animal. However, my OCD has, over the past few years, made me feel quite uncomfortable when a dog comes up to me (especially since some dogs tend to jump all over me at times when I least expect it, and this, to be fair to these owners, being a small dog, didn't do near as much of that) But I mean, goodness, who in the world really expects, or prepares themselves, to walk in a BARBER SHOP and have a dog coming up to you? I mean, I really tried not to make a big deal out of the situation as much as I could. But it didn't help when the lady who did my hair didn't even bother to wash her hands after she held the dog and moved it, and then, the male, who shaved me, didn't either, and both had to touch my head and hair quite a bit to cut and shave. I mean, it may be just the way I think, being a person who has OCD, but I would think that in a business like cutting hair, where it is basically a requirement to touch someone's head and hair to do their job, which doesn't bother me in most cases, don't these people think that these kinds of things would be a sanitary concern to at least some of their customers? And then, when the man was shaving me, he kind of talked to me in a harsh tone, likely because of how offended he chose to get at my reaction to his dogs. That just made me even MORE nervous.

That's not even the ONLY bizarre, uncomfortable situation I've been in related to my OCD that I can't see even people outside the spectrum seeing coming. Not long before this, I ate at a fast food restaurant, and I went in the restroom to wash my hands before and after I ate. Before I ate, I noticed there were BALLOONS in the restroom on the other side of the faucet, which didn't bother me at first. But then, after I ate, someone who worked there, who was coming out as I was about to go in, realized he had dropped his phone after I started washing my hands, and as he left the restroom, one of the balloons comes flying toward me as I was trying to wash my hands, and while the balloon didn't touch me, thankfully (I mean, this is a nasty restroom, for God's sake. You don't know if those balloons have been on the floor), I just freaked out.

I'm doing the best I can to cope with these kinds of things right now, but when these triggers uncontrollably mount like they've been lately, it's just too much sometimes. I'm not sure how to go about treating my OCD, but I did try taking Zoloft, and it doesn't seem to be helping.

I've got OCD too. One useful thing to remember is some bacteria is good for us. Some dirt is necessary to build resistance to disease. If you bear that in mind it won't bother you quite as much being touched by dirt occasionally. If you think about it on some level we are all millions of atoms put together, that is what the universe is made of, and we can easily blow out of proportion worries we have. Many years ago people didn't even have clean water to drink or bath in and going hundreds of years back people couldn't even flush a toilet. So really in today's world we are very clean and I wouldn't worry too much about a dog. I understand the ickiness of the balloon, I would probably have walked out and used somewhere else.

I hope things get better for you.

I think the real problem is that my OCD makes me have phobias I can't let go of that certain things aren't clean, such as dogs, and my reaction at the barbershop was not just due to that, but the fact that it was something, again, I was completely unprepared for, since I just don't think anyone who walks in a barbershop would expect to see dogs in one.

I had to shower again when I got back home from the barber, since I felt so much of my body was touched by uncleanness, particularly my hair. However, what a lot of you might find odd is that it has been quite rare for my OCD to coax me into taking another shower on a day like today when I've already taken one. I've only do that when something that bothers me gets in my hair, and/or quite a bit of my body.

As a licensed tattooist, I can tell you in most states the Health Department would pull your license for letting dogs run around loose in a place that is supposed to maintain hospital hygiene at all times. As for holding the dog and then touching a customer, we're supposed to wash our hands (and change gloves) a minimum of five times during even the most basic procedure, to avoid the risk of spreading things like hepatitis and HIV.

Granted, tattooists are piercing the skin and dealing with exposure to blood, which a barber is (usually) not, but considering the risk of contamination by fleas, scabies, ringworm, etc., it's at the very least disgustingly unprofessional to handle an animal, then stick your fingers in someone's hair without at least scrubbing up first.

I can't confirm if such laws would affect certain businesses, particularly a barbershop, in my state of Louisiana, which, if there is no such particular law, may be because of the lack of concern of this being a problem in certain businesses. However, though I've never particularly felt comfortable getting a tattoo, likely due to all of the bad rap tattoo people have gotten through gossip (which I don't deny could very well be more myth than fact), I can imagine the laws that you speak of being a lot more concern in most states for businesses such as tattoos than other businesses. However, there needs to be either more of these laws that affect all possibilities of what unsanitary things a business could do, rather than just some businesses which government assumes could be the most damaging, such as tattoos. Either that, or there needs to be more enforcement, if these laws already do affect all businesses in my state.

I want to apologise Shrevedude. I gave it more thought and a dog in a barbershop really is out of order. If anything like that ever happens again you would be justified in walking out and telling them you changed your mind because what they're doing is unhygienic.

That's completely ok. I didn't see virtually any signs of criticism in your message, and I felt you put it in a much less harsh way than the people at my barbershop, my own father, or many others who have criticized my OCD or many of my other issues and habits over the years have.