Practically how do I overcome OCD?

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Practical advice please. Anyone?

I didn't hug my mother yesterday because her hands might have been dirty.

When people's dogs come near me I recoil and put my hands in the air.

If a parcel comes in the post wherever I put it on the carpet, I then have to disinfect that part of the carpet. The knife I use to open the parcel also gets disinfected. Then I have to wash my hands with soap because I touched a parcel that might have touched a floor with dog faeces on it or that someone had urinated on.

I know people HATE the way this makes me. And it is RUINING many aspects of my life. So anyone have any practical sources of help? Videos? Books? Inside knowledge?

You should research exposure therapy. It's basically when you force yourself to do the things you hate the most from what I've gathered. I don't know much else except talking to your doctor about medication. I have OCD as well and I know how much it sucks, best of luck to you.

I am at a loss what to do. I'm going to try listening to binaural beats. Some people say that helps them stop obsessive thoughts. I'll mention this problem to my psychologist when I see him in a few days. I forgot to bring it up with him at our first appointment.

Exposure therapy is textbook perfect but I have so many mental blocks about it. I want to be convinced with scientific precise argument that dirt isn't bad for me, that some dirt is okay, that I don't have to be totally clean. I'm reading Good Germs, Bad Germs by Jessica Snyder Sachs in the hope that will show me the way. Next on my reading list is Dirt is Good by Jack Gilbert, Ph.d. Both these people are experts in their field from what I gather.

And I echo your sentiments back, best of luck navigating this rocky road!

I think first you need to get a diagnosis , ask your GP to put your forward to a specialist https://www.ocduk.org/ice-breaker

Thanks Ferris, I have just called up and booked a doctor's appointment. I thought of everything but that.

I have a few things here. First off, I have moderate-severe OCD myself. It used to be very severe. Anyway, you need to find either a therapist or day program where they use something called exposure and response prevention (ERP). If they don't use that, don't expect it to work. Also, I just finished reading a book called "Everyday Mindfulness for OCD," by Jon Hershfield and Shala Nicely (both of whom have OCD themselves). This book is a good adjunct to ERP, but not a replacement for it. ERP is very hard. You do exposures to things that trigger your OCD then you have to wait it out until your anxiety drops by about 50%. You have to really want to get better or you won't get better.

Good luck with your GP dude , the link I posted has other information regarding GP's and depending on the area you live there may be a long waiting list. My ASD assessment said my OCD traits were part of my ASD so I didn't pursue a diagnosis but I asked my GP for Fluoexitine as it can help OCD ( it does me make feel numb but it quiets down my intrusive thoughts , it's a trade off I am willing to live with )

CBT was really helpful for my OCD. It practically got rid of it.

SSRIs! For starters; then when it's kicked in, you can get as psychological as you wish.

I had BAD OCD with lots of things until I started taking the med Neurontin/Gabapentin

ERP, exposure response prevention. It helped me break a lot of my complusions. I still struggle with germaphobia but it certainly makes if easier to deal with. Everytime you give into a compulsion, it makes it harder to not give in the next time, and every time you refuse to give in, it.makes it slightly easier the next time.

I agree. ERP is the way to go. You can certainly try medication but that would only be worth it to make ERP possible, not to be used as a "band-aid" approach.