It saddens me to read a post from another member of the forum stating that they feel that they’ve been judged by others and so feel unable or reluctant to post again asking for help or support 
None of us should be afraid of posting for fear of being judged by others. The forum is here for us to help and support each other not to pass judgement. And as none of us can actually live anyone else’s life and so experience first hand the fear and anguish the other person’s OCD causes it’s wrong of us to pass judgement.
OCD is such a varied and complex condition that even the same obsession will elicit totally different compulsions. It seems no two people have exactly the same response to the same obsession. We are all in the same boat and so must surely be able to empathise with the suffering caused by the obsessions and compulsions of others.
I have sometimes read a post and thought how on earth could they do that? But only because I know that I couldn’t possibly do it, I immediately then think that they’d probably say exactly the same thing about my obsessions or compulsions. My obsessions and compulsions make perfect sense to me but not necessarily to others and the reverse is also true.
We are all different and what one can easily cope with another might find completely abhorrent. Even those helping us with our OCD sometimes can't understand why we can do A but not B. For instance, when I go through the tills at the supermarket people just can’t understand (therapists included) why it is that the food items bar anything that might leak is packed straight into the shopping bags. BUT items such as loo rolls, tissues and all toiletries etc have to be packed into fresh carrier bags (not ones that have been out on the side) and then tied. Even the logical side of me finds it strange but the OCD side of me thinks it perfectly logical as items that I’m going to use to keep either me or the house clean have to remain ‘clean’. Once home they then have to remain in the bags until I need them so I can’t accidentally contaminate them.
As for hoarding many of us that hoard do so because of our contamination OCD and for no other reason. We don’t do it by choice far from it. Ironically many of us that hoard cannot actually abide living with clutter and yet that’s how we end up living as our OCD fears are greater than our dislike of clutter.
I have items that I perceive to be contaminated that I have put in plastic or carrier bags with the hope that one day I’ll be able to cope with them. It’s either that or throwing them out and I can neither afford it nor do I want to throw out anything of sentiment. BREAKING NEWS - Our CMHT psychologist reckons that if you throw away your ornaments it will cure the OCD 
In the past I have thrown things away because I’ve thought that they were contaminated at considerable cost, both financial and sentimental.
But I also have items that to me are clean and they too are in plastic or carrier bags for fear that by touching them they will become contaminated.
I’m the sort of person that likes a nice clean tidy house and so to live like this is humiliating and frustrating but the humiliation and frustration it causes is nothing compared with the sheer terror of trying to deal with it. Unfortunately it then gets to the point where it becomes so overwhelming that you just don’t know how to deal with the accumulated bags, boxes. I also have the added problem that I as can’t get out of the house without help I always have to ensure that I have spare necessities such as loo rolls, hand wash, baby wipes, shampoo etc which are kept in bags in stacked plastic boxes. I tried not keeping spares and came unstuck as the supermarket had run out of hand wash and then we had to try to get to the next supermarket in the allotted time. If I run out of anything I cannot just pop down the shops to replace it
Like Cuthbert I too have to go through all the rubbish thoroughly before I can throw it for fear that I throw the wrong thing out. In the past I’ve thrown out things of importance or value. If I didn’t have help I fear it would just accumulate. In my flat there’s a lot that needs to be thrown but in the past was too afraid to (I’m talking about non perishables I hasten to add) and now it’s so overwhelming I just don’t know where I would begin and so it continues to accumulate. If the OCD stopped tomorrow I'd be able to go through the room and throw out the rubbish and stuff to go to the charity shop in next to no time but with the OCD the sheer terror of throwing out the wrong thing or contaminating things I find completely overwhelming. I am trying my best but it seems it's just not good enough as the OCD continually defeats me
Tricia you are not slobbish, you don't hoard through choice but like me and many other hoarders because you're ill. Boy, OCD has a lot to answer for doesn't it?
Many apologies for the length of this post. I tried condensing it but as you can see without much success
Trudy
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
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