do you clean out your hoover?

[morethanyoubargainfor]

I am undergoing assesment for OCD and they want me to tell them all teh things OCD like that i do. One of the things ii have to do everyday after hoovering is totally empty the hoover and wash it all out, filter included. I can not use a dirty hoover. DH thinks this is obbsessive i on the other hand dont so MN jury it is up to you!

I have OCD, but it is not centered around cleanliness of the house or myself (although I am clean maybe not as tidy as I should be) I do however think that emptying the hoover and wash it after every use is compulsive.

I rarely hoover ..but would never dream of cleaning it out after every use ...I would say it was very obsessive

yes, i would say it's obsessive.

i DO clean our vacuum cleaner. but certainly not after every use, and not every single component. quick wipe over the outside when it gets dusty, and i clean the filter when i empty it, which isn't necessarily after each use

How would you feel about NOT cleaning it out after you have used it? If it makes you feel anxious/worried etc etc, then I think it would be even more evidence of it being a compulsive act.

oh ok thank you, looks like DH might be right then .

Insert: i am also not obsessive about cleaning but i am clean and like you untidy, I just don't see it until it gets to a level where i can not stand it and i then become very compulsive about cleaning and all the rooms have to be emptied in order for them to be properly clean .

Insert it gives me shivers just thinking about using a dirty hoover, It would worry me if i went to it and it was full with stuff.

I do have to do that, I wonder if that is part of my OCD, never thought about it before. Mine is centered more on night time rituals and some hand washing.
I too can sit in the mess (as I am doing now ) until it gets to a point where it all has to go and be cleaned and scrubbed.

Like I said think about not cleaning it after you have used it and see how you feel. In fact try not cleaning it after using it and see how you feel.

X posts sorry.

There is your answer then, it is most likely part of your OCD, if that is what you get diagnosed with.

can i ask insert do you have any other issues apart from OCD as mine is apparently linked to other stuff. You don't have to answer if it is too personal.

Oooh I have ishooos lol.

My OCD is directly linked with my anxiety. My anxiety fluctuates according to what is happening in my life at the time.

When my anxiety is high my OCD spirals out of fooooking control. I have learnt to deal with a lot of the more annoying aspects after having some counseling and CBT (highly recommended)
I find stressful situations cause me to be anxious which in turn cause the OCD. My granddad dying, my DD's being born I really struggled after DD1 was born which made me seek the counseling. Sometimes the only way I know I am anxious is through my OCD. I got so used to being in an anxious state that I didn't know what it was like not to be IYSWIM.

The counseling and CBT were fab and I still sometimes ring my counselor now just for a chat when things get bad for me.
I am finally starting to realize where my anxiousness came from but it is hard going. I do find however as I have started to deal with where it comes from I have been getting much better

I was very, very bad for a time but am getting better, it can be done, it can be hard work but it is worth it.

If you have any questions please ask away

thank you very much. It is in the very early stages atm even though DH has begged me to get help for the last 9 years. I always denied there was anything wrong. I went to the GP due to a phobia that rukles my life and i mean rules. I have lots of phobia's and on the back of that they think i have aniexty, depression adn OCD. I totally accept the OCD part and i thought it was better now than it was 10-15 years ago, but it appears that all my little rituals have just become 'normality' for me and my DH. I am also governed completely by time.

I too struggled after DS was born but my coping mechanism was flight, i worked 70+ hours a week and DH was a SAHD for the first 2 years of his life then i had an operation on my spine and had to be at home and dealing with DS then found out it wasn't that bad really and i wasn't going to hurt him etc. DS is now 7 and everything around him is ok, he has a lot of medical Ishoo's but i can deal with them and will fight fro his rights.

Thank you so much insert, i have a feeling i might be talking to you lots more in the near future, just not through the 'housekeeping boards' .

I am here, talk away. My DH just leaves me too it when I am in one of my ritual modes, but I get so annoyed at myself. I don't want to do them, but have to, I know it is in my head but I just cant stop.
I am at a 'good' point at the mo, I still do my rituals but can stop myself I can calm myself down and think almost rationally about it.

I too have phobias, my biggest one is obviously something bad happening to the DD's. Before I had them it was something bad happening to DH. Which in turn makes me anxious which gives rise to excruciatingly horrible OCD.

It is great that you can now take this on board and are doing something about it. You cannot let it run your life, you have to take control back for yourself and your family.

You seem to have a good idea what it is causing your OCD, that is a fantastic starting point. It took me about 20 years to get to that point and I am only just starting to get better.

Good luck, I am here to talk to when you want to

thank you, TBH i have come a resonable way in the last 15 years. I have had problems with drug use and excessive alcohol and i now realise that they were just covering stuff. I also have issues with food, but again it is alot better now than 10 years ago, i would only eat on a thursday and nothing in between. Now i eat everyday but i have too for my DS, he needs me adn he really keeps me going.

I have a big thing about things happening to me not ds or dh ( i mamselfish!) i just thought i was paranoid and it was due to my past life but obviously not.

this OCD thread has gone a bit quiet lately, but maybe we can revive it!

Sounds like you have done fantastically these last 15 years. Have you any idea where the only eating on a Thursday came from? Did you not eat at all the rest of the week?

DC have a way of making you cope for their sake don't they, if it wasn't for my DD1 I wouldn't have sought any help. I am so glad I did now cos I am beginning to understand my life, childhood and where my anxiety is borne from. It's hard but gets easier, I promise.

It is not selfish to worry about you, it is more worry about the people you care for should anything happen to you. I do this also, I had my appendix out almost 6 weeks ago and I cried like a baby when the anesthetist put me to sleep cos I was so worried I would not wake up and worried about what would happen to my DD's.

no didn't eat at all on the otehr days, not sure where thursdays came from, think it just happened naturually. It proabaly wasn't that bad for that long until i started introducing food onother days. I think i was deeply unhappy at the time and that was a way of control, it was about the only thing i could control IYKWIM. It is all very strange, and what is een stranger is that since i have been talking about it my mum and her patner agree there is mental health issues and yes i probably have suffered with depression for several years, so why didn't they say something before now!!!

Maybe they didn't know what to say and didn't want to upset you.

I completely understand about the control thing.
Sometimes you cannot 'see' things that are happening mentally cos you get so used to living like that.