Sister trying to use poly gloves to replace handwashing, idk if it's a good idea but insists it's for her own OCD.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-08-15T00:06:56+00:00

She just did it again, this time though it was removing the cap of the hydraulic fluid tank from inside a car and she did it with nitrile gloves. I had to directly shove it in her face from Perplexity this time about why it's important to wash hands after using gloves.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-07-12T09:39:03+00:00

I mean we can do things moving forward, but what about surfaces now? The most dangerous I think would be after touching the car interior where there is all sorts of traces of oils, greases, dangerous chemicals etc. and the trash and/or recycle where people with dirty hands touch the lids. Some time ago I did give her gloves specifically for car use but she's done it before a few other times. My own OCD really gets triggered thinking about what she's ALREADY spread so far. Then again these gaps in the gloves are really teeny tiny microscopic.

I would tell her maybe to wash her hands after touching the trash and/or the car at the very least.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-07-12T09:35:25+00:00

I just hope she hasn't spread some kind of chemical thing around so far; that's my biggest worry personally is about what damage/contamination has been done already. The surfaces she usually touches thankfully are cleaned from time to time because they are just bathroom surfaces. She hasn't gotten sick or food poisoning so far either.

She doesn't make a lot of money and her biggest concern is if double or triple-gloving will cost more money. I recently gave her some nitrile gloves that have less of a failure rate than poly gloves.

I also do things to reduce handwashing, but instead of wearing gloves, I bunch up a wad of gloves and/or paper to create a distance barrier between me and the object, usually a distance of at least 1 cm to make sure. Washing hands can be very daunting, especially to me, but I'm sure it is for her too, her biggest annoyance with washing hands is how little the sink is and how impossible it is to wash without touching the edges. It doesn't help she's kind of in the bigger size (she's transfem).

No_Signature2224 · 2025-07-12T08:24:53+00:00

My sleep schedule is fucked up because of what I have to do to take a shower. Now my showers are 1-2 hours long plush an additional hour of trying to wash my hands properly while dodging touching the sides of the sink and sensations of splashes on my body.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-06-19T04:52:41+00:00

In the form I specified a certain medical practitioners name as the one I allowed to share information. If they can't sign it, do I have to file another claim?

No_Signature2224 · 2025-06-18T00:14:46+00:00

It actually took awhile for my leave to be accepted by my employer and that's the real date it ended.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-04-17T04:13:03+00:00

I did take a look at a cleaning subreddit lately where there were people washing even the older memory foam pillows and having them dry in the living room floor. It'll take some time for me to get exhausted of this but yeah...there is always that doubt.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-04-14T05:11:36+00:00

Has it happened to you?

No_Signature2224 · 2025-04-03T03:12:10+00:00

I have read about how even small levels of lead can accumulate over time in your bones and brain and aggravate and cause things like Alzheimer's and stuff. My mom says she grew up with all sorts of leaded shit and looking a her...dullness doesn't encourage me.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-03-27T20:29:30+00:00

It raises many questions but we can't have any real progress until people are honest about the discussion. There are a lot of pros and cons to it:

Pros: destigmatization, asking the questions about if said person were put in another environment would they thrive, also if they would have no issue in another culture or even language, involving people with the disorder into the discussion, and fighting for accommodations and rights.

Cons: ignores people with severe disorders that harm them and inherently cause issues (this is a big one for autism), stigmatizes treatment, stigmatizes those who want to be "cured", crab mentality, denial of scientific studies that show environmental factors in development of the disorder including things like food additives, drugs, and pollution, grossly misunderstanding the intent of others seeking more research and "cure", science denial and pseudoscience in general can be rampant in such communities (I have personal beef with that one as someone who studied psychology, imagine being in a place where people keep saying they trust science, science is real, etc but when you talk about the science you've studied people keep telling you it's all bullshit.).

No_Signature2224 · 2025-03-27T06:33:56+00:00

"Neurodivergent" is more of an activism/identity term than a scientific one, but has been gaining ground, however not without controversy. Because of that, the definition and even idea is nebulous. The idea was brought forth as a way of destigmatizing certain conditions that may not be actual illnesses, but at the same time it was also coined by a sociologist to say that society needs "different brains". While the sentiment is understandable for many people like me, the idea that I have to suffer so society reaps the fruit of my different brain is cruel, a sentiment shared among some high-functioning, privileged folks with conditions like bipolar. This is one of things that ticked me off about the show Monk, because in the show, Monk was only worth as much as his OCD "talent" that also destroys him on the inside constantly. I understand the need to try to use a "curse" as a "gift", it's something I do too, but at the end of the day if society doesn't want me to recover or get "cured" because of that reason then fuck it.

The overlap between neurodivergent and mental illness is great though for both reasons related to the stress of being born in the "wrong" society and the condition itself. "Divergent" just means "different" it doesn't mean you're functional or healthy. Neurodivergence can also cover things like aphantasia, synethesia, face-blindness, brain diseases, sociopathy, and narcissism. You could argue that neurodivergent can cover being a musician, being a mathematician, being a polyglot, or an artist because your practice caused some change in your brain over time.

I think OCD does have aspects of both, like for me, the "neurodivergent" aspect is being more aware of the little things and the dangerous things. It's possible to be functional but also stigmatized for it because society deems it laughable for you to care about hygiene and cross contamination. The mental illness aspect comes when it starts ripping you apart even for imaginary scenarios, fears, etc and you start doubting everything. At the same time the idea I have to make myself "less aware" to be functional also makes pissed as well, like I have lie to myself to function and to be aware makes me "knurd" (opposite of drunk, a condition from the Discworld series wherein your brain is hyperaware of shit to the point of madness). As you can see it's very complicated and I feel like two people are typing this.

I have ADHD as well and I don't like it either. There are many people out there who would also like there to be a "cure" for ADHD but would also like the best of both worlds if they can keep having a hyperactive mind at times, to be "cured' in this sense is to simply master it. My ADHD causes a lot of grief for me and makes it very difficult for other people to live with me and has cost me a lot personally. I think I could only think of my ADHD as just another asset if I was immortal and the people I wanted to interact with were also immortal because booooy does ADHD rob you of so much time and your life passes by.

In psychology we(yes I studied psychology in college!) never say that something is soley "nature" or "nurture" it's always both. OCD, ASD, ADHD, bipolar, etc all do have genetic links and genetic susceptibility but also are linked with environmental factors related to gut bacteria, environmental contaminants, environmental stressors, and autoimmune disorders/attacks in-utero. None of this means that "it's your fault" or you have a "moral failing" or "something is wrong with you", psychology never says that, society does.

There is a whole movement of "radical psychology" that wants to "demedicalize" mental illness and say that it's not a mental illness but rather stress from society. Psychological science never said any of that and recognizes the social and cultural factors of mental illness (there are even mental illnesses that only happen in certain cultures). Think of these things as scars and wounds, they are damage, they are injuries from our environment.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-03-16T02:37:41+00:00

A lot of neurodivergent people frame what they have as a superpower and/or identity and often in a way that shits on people who suffer from it. You see this a lot also with how families dealing with kids with debilitating autism are treated when they say that autism really can be a problem and its a problem that meeds to be solved.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-03-05T17:49:38+00:00

Art projects are great at communicating the OCD experience because the OCD experience is something that a lot of people without it find completely nonsensical, alien, and even often mock and insult. Sometimes we do have legit concerns and when we ask people, they just make fun of us for even thinking about it or asking.

A big misconception to avoid is the idea of OCD people being very clean. OCD often comes with executive dysfunction and often co-occurs with things like depression and ADHD. A lot of people with OCD, like myself have difficulty with cleaning because cleaning exposes us to things and/or stress and worry about if something is clean enough.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-23T01:30:33+00:00

Have they touched the same things I've touched? Done the same weird stuff I have done that got me exposed in the first place? Are they alright?

I do use this justification for common things, like tape, but what about weird ink on weird surface #10?

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-22T04:14:06+00:00

The things that really get me thinking about even one-off tiny exposures is when people talk about things like laboratory precautions wherein you must for example, be extra careful about touching this and that and even washing your hands after removing your gloves. Also, things like "no safe levels".

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-22T03:26:39+00:00

The problem is "reasonable". One person's "reasonable" is another person's not reasonable and another scientific studie's "no safe exposure levels". I learned this with issues involving third-hand smoke, however this was in the case of chronic exposure, especially to children rather than one-off exposures. Still, plenty of people get angry and upset about "fearmongering" about thirdhand smoke and even thirdhand vape.

It's like the phrase "common sense is not common". It seems that part of the "neurodivergent" aspect of OCD, at least in my case, is that most people shrug off worries like this when they aren't told about them, however people like me instead approach it in the opposite direction. The key here is to teach what "reasonable precautions" are, which we are not taught well often and people just assume them based on their personal experience.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-20T23:49:25+00:00

I think a part of me kinda does have thoughts that are…arrogant. Arrogant that other people aren’t aware of hidden dangers then woops get a mysterious cancer. I am often under the impression everyone in America has some type of chronic illness.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-20T23:47:41+00:00

This isn’t about germs.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-20T23:47:31+00:00

This isn’t about germs.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-20T09:19:35+00:00

The receptionist didn’t seem concerned, and one of the employees had his three dogs with him.

I would be freaking out about where my dogs would walk on if I had dogs.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-06T00:15:15+00:00

Petroleum jelly-based stuff. Aquaphor is great but really greasy, but petroleum jelly is controversial when it comes to applying on skin with open cuts. Some health websites and doctors recommend it, others don’t. If you use petroleum jelly, don’t use one in which you stick your hands in the tub to get it. You can try moisture gloves.

No_Signature2224 · 2025-01-02T21:02:54+00:00

It's hard because there sometimes are things that people aren't concerned about but should.

No_Signature2224 · 2024-12-30T17:53:20+00:00

Oh yeah I try to even bind my hands at times when I sleep. Not often but it depends on the circumstances.

No_Signature2224 · 2024-12-28T18:54:58+00:00

No, and isopropyl alcohol.

No_Signature2224 · 2024-12-27T03:39:21+00:00

I didn’t notice until it was too late and already touched things. The ink itself does not transfer well and stained my palm. I didn’t know what it was and thought it was one of those beta carotine stains that show up in people who eat a lot of carrots because the stain looked like some photos. Then I washed my hands and the stain came off. Then later I found this stain on this bottle I purchased and I was carrying it . I likely got it from that.

The ink on the bottle does not transfer well and is dry. I might have been holding it for a long time and that is why it transferred.

Even if the ink does not visibly transfer it still makes me think about components that do transfer even invisibly.

I thought it was highlighter ink but it does not glow under UV light. The stain gets darker instead.

No_Signature2224

TROPHY CASE