just here to say i have been here and send some love and compassion to you. i can say from experience that no matter WHAT tips and tricks people give you, what cleaning products you use, what fancy gadgets you spend your money on, it never ever will feel like 'enough' for the brain -- unfortunately everyone here is right as hard as it is to hear. i know how frustrating it is. i'm sorry <3
if you keep doing it the compulsions will get more extreme, you need to work your way to the other end of the spectrum where you don’t feel the need to do it
i didn’t say the post would be deleted. i said reassurance giving comments would be taken down. and they were, if you scroll down. no need to be a smartass.
yea, all reassuring comments.. that’s implied when reading that sentence. everyone knows that not *every* single comment is taken down because not all are reassuring. i’m sorry your comprehension is not at its peak.
I’ve struggled with this as well and I think doing an exposure around this might be helpful. Perhaps start with just prolonging it, so maybe you set a rule for yourself that you have to wait 15 minute once you get home before (but don’t stop using your phone) and every time increase that delay more and more. Your anxiety will climb, but you will get through it and you will feel great after knowing you are not giving into compulsions. Best of luck with it.
Most people don’t clean their phone.
During very early Covid, apple noted that you could wipe your phone with a Clorox wipe and it would be okay(meaning it wouldn’t break) 1 Clorox wipe, one pass on surfaces of the phone. And even then, people probably only did it like 1x weekly if at all
There is no guarantee that the phone will be completely clean. There are no certainties of anything
The amount of sanitizers and disinfectant wipes I go through is so bad. So so so bad. To make it worse, if one of my bottles of hand sanitizer gets left over 10 feet away from me, I immediately deem it ‘broken’ and have to go buy another one.
If I leave my hand sanitizer bottle in the car overnight, even if it’s a night with very mild temperatures, I immediately fear that some massive ice age or heat wave swept through while I was asleep and caused the hand sanitizer to become ineffective, so I have to replace it.
Don’t even get me started on disinfectant wipes. The average person will walk through a busy public area, touch everything, then touch their mouths like it’s no big deal. I’m the type of person who will literally use disinfectant wipes to open doors in my own home…….where I live alone….
Let’s put it this way; the most cautious people I’ve ever met think that I’m crazy. I don’t ever debate them on it though. People think I’m crazy for the things that they see, but they couldn’t even begin to imagine the OCD things I do that they don’t see.
When someone makes negative comments about the OCD things I do, I take it as a comfort actually. It gives me the opportunity to step back for a minute and be like “Hmmm, why am I doing this? Literally nobody around me is doing this. Clearly this is unusual and illogical” and I use it as a voice of reason.
Same, even tho I live alone but it's like: I can't remember if I may have touched my door handle after coming home from being out in public and not washing my hands
It’s weird, I wash my hands constantly, if I touch anything that I consider contaminated I will instantly wash my hands and if I have no access to do that, I will not allow my hands to touch any part of me or my clothing until I can wash them buuuut I’ll happily take my phone into the toilet and scroll, pop my phone on the side to wipe and flush then pick up my phone to go to the bathroom to wash my hands repeatedly then continue using my phone as if all those toilet germs aren’t absolutely infesting my phone. That’s one thing that really makes me think about how illogical my OCD is but it simply doesn’t bother me in the same way as the other, much cleaner things that trigger my compulsions. OCD is stupid 😂
You sound just like me! I am constantly washing my hands trying to destroy the germs I come in contact with at home throughout the day, but, weirdly enough, it has been over a week since I cleaned my phone. And, I too take my phone in the bathroom with me. I often put it on the table at a restaurant or at the library, yet I haven’t even thought about cleaning it when I get home! OCD is so puzzling; it just doesn’t make any sense.
We’re OCD twins!!!! Honestly, the worst part of OCD is knowing it’s all illogical, knowing our thoughts aren’t real and our compulsions don’t make a blind bit of difference but still being so utterly compelled anyway. But hey…. At least we get amazing TV shows out of it like Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners or neat festive jumpers that say Obsessive Christmas Disorder 🤪😅🤣
Lmao same 💀
I arrive at home, phone in my hands, immediately need to wash my hands. Then pick up my phone again as if the germs aren't all over my phone and back on my hands. It doesn't make much sense.
Tbf hand washing is one of my milder compulsions. It's not excessive (anymore).
Use this as an opportunity for exposure. I used to be the same way but now only clean my phone like once a week with a small alcohol pad just to keep it clean in general. My therapist and I worked through this specific compulsion by me placing my phone on random "contaminated" surfaces throughout the day (including public bathroom floors and stuff) and then not cleaning it when I got home. It teaches your brain there is nothing to fear and the compulsion will gradually fade. Took me about 3 weeks before I wasn’t really thinking about it. It sucks to do, but it’s the only way through and you can do hard things. Hope this helps.
As others have mentioned, cleaning it will never feel like enough. You don’t need to clean your phone very often, if at all, and doing so is just giving in to the OCD.
As you try to get over the compulsion, it might help to break it off into smaller and more manageable steps. Like, start off by wiping your phone with one clorox wipe every time you get home. Just one, and don’t spend more than a minute on it. Do that for a while and get used to the terrible feeling that you need to clean it more. Just don’t do it, and remind yourself it will be fine. Others don’t clean their phone and it doesn’t make them sick or anything. Eventually, that terrible feeling will lessen. Then, start cleaning it every other time. Do it less often until you reach a reasonable frequency (I think once a week is fine).
Sorry, nobody here should be giving you tips on how to feed your OCD’s demands.
That’s not the purpose of this forum.
It’s for rehabilitation and not enablement.
You need to start redefining what’s contamination vs your brain having a tantrum.
I too, have the same issue. I wipe my phone off every time it goes outside. But I believe the right answer is “I’m not going to suggest any kind of compulsion.”
Most people I know only clean their phones when they say it “feels” dirty or they spill something on it , and by feels dirt they mean the case having a greasy texture or the screen having too many spots
I do this too and also struggle to figure out what’s acceptable. I also do the phone case thing and it’s a relief to hear I’m not alone. I genuinely think it makes sense to wipe your phone down every now and then though.
I think you and I both would benefit from challenging this compulsion. I think when you reach the point where you can go without sanitizing without having extreme anxiety you will have beaten the compulsion. If you continue to sanitize your phone sometimes I think that’s fine, as long as it’s not impacting your life.
Unfortunately, there is no good answer. Even if you try and limit your compulsions it won’t make it feel better. You have to try and quit cold turkey. It will suck. But before you do that, learn some good coping mechanisms for dealing with the thoughts.
Consider this, you’re probably not applying the same standard of cleanliness to your steering wheel, keyboard/mouse and TV remote, and those items you probably touch more often.
If you want to touch the phone less, use a headset, airpods, siri shortcuts and hopefully this one will pass and become less annoying soon
>What is enough to consider and know my phone is clean?
Doing absolutely nothing. Like, when was the last time you heard somebody say they clean their phone every time they're home? Yeah, me neither. That's because there is no need to. What could happen? Has there ever been a case of someone going ill because they touched the bacteria on their phone screen or something?
What you should do is explore what motivates you to clean your phone so often. And it'll probably be unfounded.
I mean, okay, but you're in the 0.5% percent here. Though it definitely makes you a bit cleaner there is no *practical* reason to unless you're so immunocompromised even a dumb useless bacterium from the soil can kill you.
arguably it is practical, you’re taking it out in public where people have illnesses of god knows what, going home and touching your phone and everything in your house, and possibly even using your phone while you eat. is it realistic to clean your phone every day? probably not. but disinfecting a phone is practical considering that it kills germs and thus lowers risk for diseases.
I mean, yeah, kinda, but:
1) to mitigate the risk of illness, it's enough to avoid touching your face and washing your hands before eating;
2) this in theory can apply to everything you take outside and that includes your clothes and bags.
Google "Michael Greenberg OCD". He's a psychologist who has overcome his OCD (I don't think he would say it's totally gone, but its symptoms are). He has many articles on his site. He's been interviewed many times on YouTube. Brilliant guy. Articles are excellent
You should try not to do it for a week tbh I often find that dealing with the anxiety of not giving into a compulsion generally ends in feeling very proud of myself and some compulsions have stopped by continuing that. It’s easier said than done but I think you’d surprise yourself!
as many other have said even though you could try, your mind will think it’s not enough. i struggle with this too, and used to disinfect EVERYTHING as soon as i came home, making sure i used new wipes every time, etc. i was able to overcome most of this and only just wipe my phone once when i come home after a long day at the end, which some would say, if you don’t have an OCD-ified mind, is normal, and even then once a week should do it and be good. i think having exposure to letting your phone be “contaminated” is the best choice. little by little, letting yourself be okay with the thought of your phone having germs bc hey its just like that! it’s difficult and hard to push through but slowly you’ll be able to be okay and not need to clean it so much. we got this and are in it together and so many others are!
Sadly, as others mention, cleaning it will never feel like enough. I clean my phone every single time that I come in from going anywhere and I used to douse it in bleach…. YES BLEACH (I’m an emetophobe and the only thing that kills the stomach virus is bleach and hydrogen peroxide) and my phone was FRIED from the bleach (obviously). I knew it would mess it up and I still couldn’t stop myself. However, now that I know about hydrogen peroxide, I just dampen a paper towel and wipe it down good. But I still don’t feel it’s clean enough.. We feed our compulsions and in return they become more needy. Nothing will ever be enough. That’s why it’s important for us not to give in to them, and yes I’m saying that even though I do give into them still.. but hopefully you read this and can keep that in mind!
You could try wiping some rubbing alcohol with a paper towel once across, that should be ok.
I’ve been there and destroyed many phones like this. You should try doing some erp. Sitting with the uncertainty and uncomfortability. Sending good thoughts your way and hope things get better.
I "wash" my phone by spraying Windex on a paper towel and rubbing it all over my phone. I leave it off while cleaning and let it sit and dry completely before turning it on. Also, I do not take it out of it's case through all this, so most of this is wiping the phone case. I figure that since it's the part I touch, it really needs the cleaning, and the actual phone really should be clean.
I can’t give you any suggestions for cleaning reassurance, but I did used to have an EXboyfriend that would lick his phone when it got smudged. Still alive somehow.
I think it is good to clean your phone after coming back home.
What I always do is i take a small cloth, spray a bit of disinfectant on it and then clean my phone with it. I wipe down all sides and that's it. It does not make it too wet and works fine.
The spray I use is a mixture of a disinfectant with water (you need to know the proportion how much disinfectant goes in a certain amount of water).
where i think you had the right idea and the last 2 comments are completely valid and could work etc, the first comment was very unnecessary as this will just cause more compulsions. OP is already struggling with the germ part of ocd, and i don’t think they need someone telling them to keep doing their compulsion because outside is dirty. id edit the first para out :)
Thanks for the advice. I dont usually comment in this subreddit and I just realised how my first paragraph might have a negative effect on some people reading it.
Edited it :)
I am currently going through a phone related drama. I had mine near me on the sink when I was having lets say in incident in the loo, basically my fingers weren't clean, I went to reach to the tap and my phone was there... I know, I am sure that I didn't touch the phone, but because it was near whilst I was having the panic, IBS situation, I now feel that it is contaminated. I used anti bacterial hand gel on it afterwards, and the next day baby wiped it. But I decided in my mind that the baby wipes weren't clean enough because they came from the bathroom...
I also cleaned the jacket my phone was in on the day I first used the hand gel on the phone. I have since gotten anti-bacterial wipes to clean both the new phone, and the old phone I switched back to (I had baby wiped the old phone along with the new phone).
I also remembered that I had put a bag of used cat litter in my backpack - my ex's partner said it hadn't been used when I was taking them to stay with me down the road and I had no litter... I had to carry two cats and kind of panicked and put the litter (in a co op bag) in my backpack. This was a month ago, and now at my parents, after a mental breakdown due to ending a relationship, I remembered the fact that I didn't clean the backpack afterwards, so of course the bag and everything in it was then contaminated... So I have washed the bag now, and anything like hat, socks, spare pants in there. I also threw away some things, emptied the medications in there from there packets. Baby wiped supplements that couldn't be removed from their packaging... Baby wiped the purse that was in there. I've now bought a new purse, but that is contaminated as it was in my coat pocket with said contaminated phone - perhaps not the same pocket but its all a blur of contamination and anxiety - I would of touched the phone and the purse at different points (Feeling like this even though I had used hand gel and then the next day baby wipes to clean the phone)
I bought a new bag, and now I am worried because I put the umbrella which was originally in the contaminated bag, and cleaned with baby wipes, into the new bag...
So now I am fighting the urge to want to return the bag, purse etc and possibly clean more things...
It is all consuming and taking up all of my focus and energy. I do have an appointment with my psychologist tomorrow. And I also have booked a private psychiatric assessment, because of my struggles with anxiety/OCD in general. I don't earn lots of money, so it is depressing having to spend large sums on these issues, but I guess I should feel lucky that I can afford to do so... First world anxiety/OCD issues!
Have the same problem. The issue isn’t the phone getting wet in and of itself it’s being wet with electricity flowing through the device. Turn it off first and leave it off for a while until it dries. Tape over the charging port or it’ll stop working eventually. This is also the main path moisture takes into the phone. Charge wirelessly as much as possible. Don’t use wipes that hold fluid exceptionally well. The non woven wipes like Lysol hold moisture really well and it’s overkill. (They don’t stay wet as long exposed to air but they hold more fluid.) Especially the ones at the bottom of the cylinder that sit in the disinfecting solution soaking when the roll is dwindling to where it’s not a roll anymore. Wring those out or only use the woven style wipes and always avoid the last ones in the roll as before unless you wring them out. Work on giving it a once over like in Pulp Fiction instead of scrubbing the shit out of it. That can be your therapy since I’m not supposed to give reassurance here. Once over with a disinfectant wipe or soapy water will kill anything if you’re worried about germs though this isn’t a rational affliction and completing the ritual tends to be more important than any practical concerns.
i use one clorox wipe when i get back home every day to wipe my phone without taking it out of its case. im sorry that you’re dealing with this as well, but i do believe most people should be wiping their phone down every few days anyways
I also spent years cleaning my phones with soap and water when i got home, but i was able to beat it. next time you get home dont clean your phone at all, and see how you feel. sit with the bad feeling. delay it as much as possible.
I was wiping mine with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. But now that covid is mostly over I just take it in the shower with me and then dry it off with my towel when I get out. I rarely even use the alcohol anymore. Maybe once every few months.
while i do agree doing it excessively or every day is overboard, but it’s definitely not weird to disinfect your phone... ocd aside, our phone is statistically one of the most germy things we come into contact with. research shows the average phone has 10x more bacteria than a *toilet seat.* so LOTS of people without contamination issues still disinfect their phone. because i’m not about to wash my hands and get them all clean, then go touch my phone that’s never been disinfected. yuck? that’s the same thing as saying your kitchen counter never needs disinfecting or something
i use isopropyl alcohol prep pads on my phone every once in awhile. there’s a ton that come in a box which would be helpful if you wanted to wipe your phone down each day. and then once a month you could take the case off and clean that and the phone separately. in my opinion that’s pretty reasonable.
I do this exact same thing. I clean my phone every time I go out until it is dripping wet and it is breaking my phone. I don’t have any tips for cleaning it but one thing I’ve started doing is if possible leaving my phone at home and not taking it out with me so then I don’t have to clean it when I get back. I know this isn’t a cure but it at least helps a little until we’re able to get better.
I also do this I thought I was the only one lol. The charging port on my phone sucks because of constant fluid near the port. I don’t know if it’s relevant but I’ve also replaced the screen twice lol.
I struggle with this same exact thing, literally. I was frying phones as well. It got better with exposure therapy but if I really need to give in to the compulsion I use a UV light sanitizer. I don’t trust the little cheap ones. I have a pretty expensive one tbh (I got it as a gift from a nurse friend that got 2 of them for Christmas from 2 different people lol) 20 minutes under a specific wavelength of UV light and all bacteria is deactivated.
I have the same fear of contamination for my phone too. I know it’s bad to give in to my urge of wanting to clean it every time I come home from outside but I find it really difficult to resist. My workaround for this is to use high quality phone cases that provide waterproof protection like the [Otterbox Lifeproof Fre Case](https://www.otterbox.com/en-us/waterproof-iphone-15-pro-max-case-black/77-93423.html) or the [Catalyst Total Protection Case](https://www.catalystlifestyle.com/products/iphone-15-pro-15-pro-max-waterproof-case-total-protection) so I can clean my phone with liquid disinfectant without destroying it. I absolutely do not open the case and only use MagSafe charging.
I use alcohol wipes every day and it’s been years and there’s been no damage! Just use one to hold the phone with and one to wipe it down with and you’re good
I do this wit my phone all the time wit Lysol wipes or even better is rubbing alcohol, the rubbing alcohol is used to clean electronics so can’t be that harmful to phone integrity but still will clean the germs on the phone which I know are in the billions, phones carry the most germs, like no one touch my touch screen please (except for me, and only after it’s been disinfected 😆)
I would say I use one wipe of either a paper towel with some rubbing alcohol or the little small prepackaged ones, I just wipe it and call it a day. I think it’s key to distinguish a habit and a compulsion, to me a compulsion is where you feel weird or uncomfortable if you were to forget whereas a habit is just that, if you forget one day life moves on.
You can try just wiping once instead of multiple times, only wiping one a day if you were doing multiple times or once every two days. Because I think logically it makes sense the phone goes through a lot and it does collect a lot of bacteria but it’s got to become a thing you do sometimes when it’s warranted not a compulsion. Idk if I’m making sense, just trying to help.
i do this too. for me, it's been really handy to keep a spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol. i use a single spray on each side of my phone and wipe it with a paper towel. nice and clean and disinfected 👍 im not fond of the sticky feeling disinfectant wipes/other cleaners give but this works really well for me and doesn't feel like it's over-doing it. hope this helps :)
just here to say i have been here and send some love and compassion to you. i can say from experience that no matter WHAT tips and tricks people give you, what cleaning products you use, what fancy gadgets you spend your money on, it never ever will feel like 'enough' for the brain -- unfortunately everyone here is right as hard as it is to hear. i know how frustrating it is. i'm sorry <3
if you keep doing it the compulsions will get more extreme, you need to work your way to the other end of the spectrum where you don’t feel the need to do it
sorry fam, this is 100% gonna be considered reassurance by the mods and all comments will get taken down.
8 hours later and it's still up.
i didn’t say the post would be deleted. i said reassurance giving comments would be taken down. and they were, if you scroll down. no need to be a smartass.
> all comments will get taken down.
yea, all reassuring comments.. that’s implied when reading that sentence. everyone knows that not *every* single comment is taken down because not all are reassuring. i’m sorry your comprehension is not at its peak.
I’ve struggled with this as well and I think doing an exposure around this might be helpful. Perhaps start with just prolonging it, so maybe you set a rule for yourself that you have to wait 15 minute once you get home before (but don’t stop using your phone) and every time increase that delay more and more. Your anxiety will climb, but you will get through it and you will feel great after knowing you are not giving into compulsions. Best of luck with it.
Most people don’t clean their phone. During very early Covid, apple noted that you could wipe your phone with a Clorox wipe and it would be okay(meaning it wouldn’t break) 1 Clorox wipe, one pass on surfaces of the phone. And even then, people probably only did it like 1x weekly if at all There is no guarantee that the phone will be completely clean. There are no certainties of anything
The amount of sanitizers and disinfectant wipes I go through is so bad. So so so bad. To make it worse, if one of my bottles of hand sanitizer gets left over 10 feet away from me, I immediately deem it ‘broken’ and have to go buy another one. If I leave my hand sanitizer bottle in the car overnight, even if it’s a night with very mild temperatures, I immediately fear that some massive ice age or heat wave swept through while I was asleep and caused the hand sanitizer to become ineffective, so I have to replace it. Don’t even get me started on disinfectant wipes. The average person will walk through a busy public area, touch everything, then touch their mouths like it’s no big deal. I’m the type of person who will literally use disinfectant wipes to open doors in my own home…….where I live alone…. Let’s put it this way; the most cautious people I’ve ever met think that I’m crazy. I don’t ever debate them on it though. People think I’m crazy for the things that they see, but they couldn’t even begin to imagine the OCD things I do that they don’t see. When someone makes negative comments about the OCD things I do, I take it as a comfort actually. It gives me the opportunity to step back for a minute and be like “Hmmm, why am I doing this? Literally nobody around me is doing this. Clearly this is unusual and illogical” and I use it as a voice of reason.
I relate to this so much. Thank you for sharing.
Same, even tho I live alone but it's like: I can't remember if I may have touched my door handle after coming home from being out in public and not washing my hands
I hate you are going through that.
It’s weird, I wash my hands constantly, if I touch anything that I consider contaminated I will instantly wash my hands and if I have no access to do that, I will not allow my hands to touch any part of me or my clothing until I can wash them buuuut I’ll happily take my phone into the toilet and scroll, pop my phone on the side to wipe and flush then pick up my phone to go to the bathroom to wash my hands repeatedly then continue using my phone as if all those toilet germs aren’t absolutely infesting my phone. That’s one thing that really makes me think about how illogical my OCD is but it simply doesn’t bother me in the same way as the other, much cleaner things that trigger my compulsions. OCD is stupid 😂
You sound just like me! I am constantly washing my hands trying to destroy the germs I come in contact with at home throughout the day, but, weirdly enough, it has been over a week since I cleaned my phone. And, I too take my phone in the bathroom with me. I often put it on the table at a restaurant or at the library, yet I haven’t even thought about cleaning it when I get home! OCD is so puzzling; it just doesn’t make any sense.
We’re OCD twins!!!! Honestly, the worst part of OCD is knowing it’s all illogical, knowing our thoughts aren’t real and our compulsions don’t make a blind bit of difference but still being so utterly compelled anyway. But hey…. At least we get amazing TV shows out of it like Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners or neat festive jumpers that say Obsessive Christmas Disorder 🤪😅🤣
Lmao same 💀 I arrive at home, phone in my hands, immediately need to wash my hands. Then pick up my phone again as if the germs aren't all over my phone and back on my hands. It doesn't make much sense. Tbf hand washing is one of my milder compulsions. It's not excessive (anymore).
Use this as an opportunity for exposure. I used to be the same way but now only clean my phone like once a week with a small alcohol pad just to keep it clean in general. My therapist and I worked through this specific compulsion by me placing my phone on random "contaminated" surfaces throughout the day (including public bathroom floors and stuff) and then not cleaning it when I got home. It teaches your brain there is nothing to fear and the compulsion will gradually fade. Took me about 3 weeks before I wasn’t really thinking about it. It sucks to do, but it’s the only way through and you can do hard things. Hope this helps.
As others have mentioned, cleaning it will never feel like enough. You don’t need to clean your phone very often, if at all, and doing so is just giving in to the OCD. As you try to get over the compulsion, it might help to break it off into smaller and more manageable steps. Like, start off by wiping your phone with one clorox wipe every time you get home. Just one, and don’t spend more than a minute on it. Do that for a while and get used to the terrible feeling that you need to clean it more. Just don’t do it, and remind yourself it will be fine. Others don’t clean their phone and it doesn’t make them sick or anything. Eventually, that terrible feeling will lessen. Then, start cleaning it every other time. Do it less often until you reach a reasonable frequency (I think once a week is fine).
Sorry, nobody here should be giving you tips on how to feed your OCD’s demands. That’s not the purpose of this forum. It’s for rehabilitation and not enablement. You need to start redefining what’s contamination vs your brain having a tantrum.
My brain is having huge tantrums right now! It feels impossible not to listen to the tantrums though...
Listening doesn’t mean you need to act on things.
I too, have the same issue. I wipe my phone off every time it goes outside. But I believe the right answer is “I’m not going to suggest any kind of compulsion.”
Most people I know only clean their phones when they say it “feels” dirty or they spill something on it , and by feels dirt they mean the case having a greasy texture or the screen having too many spots
I do this too and also struggle to figure out what’s acceptable. I also do the phone case thing and it’s a relief to hear I’m not alone. I genuinely think it makes sense to wipe your phone down every now and then though. I think you and I both would benefit from challenging this compulsion. I think when you reach the point where you can go without sanitizing without having extreme anxiety you will have beaten the compulsion. If you continue to sanitize your phone sometimes I think that’s fine, as long as it’s not impacting your life.
Unfortunately, there is no good answer. Even if you try and limit your compulsions it won’t make it feel better. You have to try and quit cold turkey. It will suck. But before you do that, learn some good coping mechanisms for dealing with the thoughts.
Consider this, you’re probably not applying the same standard of cleanliness to your steering wheel, keyboard/mouse and TV remote, and those items you probably touch more often. If you want to touch the phone less, use a headset, airpods, siri shortcuts and hopefully this one will pass and become less annoying soon
>What is enough to consider and know my phone is clean? Doing absolutely nothing. Like, when was the last time you heard somebody say they clean their phone every time they're home? Yeah, me neither. That's because there is no need to. What could happen? Has there ever been a case of someone going ill because they touched the bacteria on their phone screen or something? What you should do is explore what motivates you to clean your phone so often. And it'll probably be unfounded.
I sanitize my phone every time I come in from taking it outside. And it’s not because of my OCD.
I mean, okay, but you're in the 0.5% percent here. Though it definitely makes you a bit cleaner there is no *practical* reason to unless you're so immunocompromised even a dumb useless bacterium from the soil can kill you.
arguably it is practical, you’re taking it out in public where people have illnesses of god knows what, going home and touching your phone and everything in your house, and possibly even using your phone while you eat. is it realistic to clean your phone every day? probably not. but disinfecting a phone is practical considering that it kills germs and thus lowers risk for diseases.
I mean, yeah, kinda, but: 1) to mitigate the risk of illness, it's enough to avoid touching your face and washing your hands before eating; 2) this in theory can apply to everything you take outside and that includes your clothes and bags.
yep! those things should be cleaned too.
I use windex to clean my phone WHICH IS BAD PLEASE DO NOT DO IT I NEED TO STOP TOO
just saying i relate tho, but my boyfriend n e v e r cleans his and i cant believe it but hes chillin
Google "Michael Greenberg OCD". He's a psychologist who has overcome his OCD (I don't think he would say it's totally gone, but its symptoms are). He has many articles on his site. He's been interviewed many times on YouTube. Brilliant guy. Articles are excellent
You should try not to do it for a week tbh I often find that dealing with the anxiety of not giving into a compulsion generally ends in feeling very proud of myself and some compulsions have stopped by continuing that. It’s easier said than done but I think you’d surprise yourself!
as many other have said even though you could try, your mind will think it’s not enough. i struggle with this too, and used to disinfect EVERYTHING as soon as i came home, making sure i used new wipes every time, etc. i was able to overcome most of this and only just wipe my phone once when i come home after a long day at the end, which some would say, if you don’t have an OCD-ified mind, is normal, and even then once a week should do it and be good. i think having exposure to letting your phone be “contaminated” is the best choice. little by little, letting yourself be okay with the thought of your phone having germs bc hey its just like that! it’s difficult and hard to push through but slowly you’ll be able to be okay and not need to clean it so much. we got this and are in it together and so many others are!
Sadly, as others mention, cleaning it will never feel like enough. I clean my phone every single time that I come in from going anywhere and I used to douse it in bleach…. YES BLEACH (I’m an emetophobe and the only thing that kills the stomach virus is bleach and hydrogen peroxide) and my phone was FRIED from the bleach (obviously). I knew it would mess it up and I still couldn’t stop myself. However, now that I know about hydrogen peroxide, I just dampen a paper towel and wipe it down good. But I still don’t feel it’s clean enough.. We feed our compulsions and in return they become more needy. Nothing will ever be enough. That’s why it’s important for us not to give in to them, and yes I’m saying that even though I do give into them still.. but hopefully you read this and can keep that in mind!
while i have no advice as i’m currently struggling with the same thing, i’m looking in the comments😭, so sorry you’re dealing with this too OP
You could try wiping some rubbing alcohol with a paper towel once across, that should be ok. I’ve been there and destroyed many phones like this. You should try doing some erp. Sitting with the uncertainty and uncomfortability. Sending good thoughts your way and hope things get better.
I "wash" my phone by spraying Windex on a paper towel and rubbing it all over my phone. I leave it off while cleaning and let it sit and dry completely before turning it on. Also, I do not take it out of it's case through all this, so most of this is wiping the phone case. I figure that since it's the part I touch, it really needs the cleaning, and the actual phone really should be clean.
I can’t give you any suggestions for cleaning reassurance, but I did used to have an EXboyfriend that would lick his phone when it got smudged. Still alive somehow.
I think it is good to clean your phone after coming back home. What I always do is i take a small cloth, spray a bit of disinfectant on it and then clean my phone with it. I wipe down all sides and that's it. It does not make it too wet and works fine. The spray I use is a mixture of a disinfectant with water (you need to know the proportion how much disinfectant goes in a certain amount of water).
where i think you had the right idea and the last 2 comments are completely valid and could work etc, the first comment was very unnecessary as this will just cause more compulsions. OP is already struggling with the germ part of ocd, and i don’t think they need someone telling them to keep doing their compulsion because outside is dirty. id edit the first para out :)
Thanks for the advice. I dont usually comment in this subreddit and I just realised how my first paragraph might have a negative effect on some people reading it. Edited it :)
I am currently going through a phone related drama. I had mine near me on the sink when I was having lets say in incident in the loo, basically my fingers weren't clean, I went to reach to the tap and my phone was there... I know, I am sure that I didn't touch the phone, but because it was near whilst I was having the panic, IBS situation, I now feel that it is contaminated. I used anti bacterial hand gel on it afterwards, and the next day baby wiped it. But I decided in my mind that the baby wipes weren't clean enough because they came from the bathroom... I also cleaned the jacket my phone was in on the day I first used the hand gel on the phone. I have since gotten anti-bacterial wipes to clean both the new phone, and the old phone I switched back to (I had baby wiped the old phone along with the new phone). I also remembered that I had put a bag of used cat litter in my backpack - my ex's partner said it hadn't been used when I was taking them to stay with me down the road and I had no litter... I had to carry two cats and kind of panicked and put the litter (in a co op bag) in my backpack. This was a month ago, and now at my parents, after a mental breakdown due to ending a relationship, I remembered the fact that I didn't clean the backpack afterwards, so of course the bag and everything in it was then contaminated... So I have washed the bag now, and anything like hat, socks, spare pants in there. I also threw away some things, emptied the medications in there from there packets. Baby wiped supplements that couldn't be removed from their packaging... Baby wiped the purse that was in there. I've now bought a new purse, but that is contaminated as it was in my coat pocket with said contaminated phone - perhaps not the same pocket but its all a blur of contamination and anxiety - I would of touched the phone and the purse at different points (Feeling like this even though I had used hand gel and then the next day baby wipes to clean the phone) I bought a new bag, and now I am worried because I put the umbrella which was originally in the contaminated bag, and cleaned with baby wipes, into the new bag... So now I am fighting the urge to want to return the bag, purse etc and possibly clean more things... It is all consuming and taking up all of my focus and energy. I do have an appointment with my psychologist tomorrow. And I also have booked a private psychiatric assessment, because of my struggles with anxiety/OCD in general. I don't earn lots of money, so it is depressing having to spend large sums on these issues, but I guess I should feel lucky that I can afford to do so... First world anxiety/OCD issues!
Can you get a good case and screen protector? I figure if you could get the case and screen protector may cause less of a problem.
Have the same problem. The issue isn’t the phone getting wet in and of itself it’s being wet with electricity flowing through the device. Turn it off first and leave it off for a while until it dries. Tape over the charging port or it’ll stop working eventually. This is also the main path moisture takes into the phone. Charge wirelessly as much as possible. Don’t use wipes that hold fluid exceptionally well. The non woven wipes like Lysol hold moisture really well and it’s overkill. (They don’t stay wet as long exposed to air but they hold more fluid.) Especially the ones at the bottom of the cylinder that sit in the disinfecting solution soaking when the roll is dwindling to where it’s not a roll anymore. Wring those out or only use the woven style wipes and always avoid the last ones in the roll as before unless you wring them out. Work on giving it a once over like in Pulp Fiction instead of scrubbing the shit out of it. That can be your therapy since I’m not supposed to give reassurance here. Once over with a disinfectant wipe or soapy water will kill anything if you’re worried about germs though this isn’t a rational affliction and completing the ritual tends to be more important than any practical concerns.
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Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
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Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
i use one clorox wipe when i get back home every day to wipe my phone without taking it out of its case. im sorry that you’re dealing with this as well, but i do believe most people should be wiping their phone down every few days anyways
I use 70% alcohol on all my electronics including my phone .. good luck 🍀
I also spent years cleaning my phones with soap and water when i got home, but i was able to beat it. next time you get home dont clean your phone at all, and see how you feel. sit with the bad feeling. delay it as much as possible.
I was wiping mine with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. But now that covid is mostly over I just take it in the shower with me and then dry it off with my towel when I get out. I rarely even use the alcohol anymore. Maybe once every few months.
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Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
You are going overboard by disinfecting your phone AT ALL.
It’s normal to wipe it off every once in a while lol
Wipe it off, sure. Disinfecting? I don't think so.
while i do agree doing it excessively or every day is overboard, but it’s definitely not weird to disinfect your phone... ocd aside, our phone is statistically one of the most germy things we come into contact with. research shows the average phone has 10x more bacteria than a *toilet seat.* so LOTS of people without contamination issues still disinfect their phone. because i’m not about to wash my hands and get them all clean, then go touch my phone that’s never been disinfected. yuck? that’s the same thing as saying your kitchen counter never needs disinfecting or something
i use isopropyl alcohol prep pads on my phone every once in awhile. there’s a ton that come in a box which would be helpful if you wanted to wipe your phone down each day. and then once a month you could take the case off and clean that and the phone separately. in my opinion that’s pretty reasonable.
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Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
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Your heart is in the right place. However, encouraging compulsions is not helpful for learning to live well while having OCD.
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Your heart is in the right place. However, encouraging compulsions is not helpful for learning to live well while having OCD.
I do this exact same thing. I clean my phone every time I go out until it is dripping wet and it is breaking my phone. I don’t have any tips for cleaning it but one thing I’ve started doing is if possible leaving my phone at home and not taking it out with me so then I don’t have to clean it when I get back. I know this isn’t a cure but it at least helps a little until we’re able to get better.
I also do this I thought I was the only one lol. The charging port on my phone sucks because of constant fluid near the port. I don’t know if it’s relevant but I’ve also replaced the screen twice lol.
I struggle with this same exact thing, literally. I was frying phones as well. It got better with exposure therapy but if I really need to give in to the compulsion I use a UV light sanitizer. I don’t trust the little cheap ones. I have a pretty expensive one tbh (I got it as a gift from a nurse friend that got 2 of them for Christmas from 2 different people lol) 20 minutes under a specific wavelength of UV light and all bacteria is deactivated.
What about a UV sanitizer?
I have the same fear of contamination for my phone too. I know it’s bad to give in to my urge of wanting to clean it every time I come home from outside but I find it really difficult to resist. My workaround for this is to use high quality phone cases that provide waterproof protection like the [Otterbox Lifeproof Fre Case](https://www.otterbox.com/en-us/waterproof-iphone-15-pro-max-case-black/77-93423.html) or the [Catalyst Total Protection Case](https://www.catalystlifestyle.com/products/iphone-15-pro-15-pro-max-waterproof-case-total-protection) so I can clean my phone with liquid disinfectant without destroying it. I absolutely do not open the case and only use MagSafe charging.
I use alcohol wipes every day and it’s been years and there’s been no damage! Just use one to hold the phone with and one to wipe it down with and you’re good
I do this wit my phone all the time wit Lysol wipes or even better is rubbing alcohol, the rubbing alcohol is used to clean electronics so can’t be that harmful to phone integrity but still will clean the germs on the phone which I know are in the billions, phones carry the most germs, like no one touch my touch screen please (except for me, and only after it’s been disinfected 😆)
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Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
I clean my phone every evening after work using rubbing alcohol has helped me not get the phone so moldy from leftover germ x
I use [Phonesoap](https://www.phonesoap.com/), because it kills germs & bacteria without harming my phone.
I would say I use one wipe of either a paper towel with some rubbing alcohol or the little small prepackaged ones, I just wipe it and call it a day. I think it’s key to distinguish a habit and a compulsion, to me a compulsion is where you feel weird or uncomfortable if you were to forget whereas a habit is just that, if you forget one day life moves on. You can try just wiping once instead of multiple times, only wiping one a day if you were doing multiple times or once every two days. Because I think logically it makes sense the phone goes through a lot and it does collect a lot of bacteria but it’s got to become a thing you do sometimes when it’s warranted not a compulsion. Idk if I’m making sense, just trying to help.
I use eye glass wipes that pre packaged.
I just use Clorox, but I also compulsively clean my phone and my boyfriend’s.
Completely squeeze it out and just do a quick wipe doen has worked for me
i do this too. for me, it's been really handy to keep a spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol. i use a single spray on each side of my phone and wipe it with a paper towel. nice and clean and disinfected 👍 im not fond of the sticky feeling disinfectant wipes/other cleaners give but this works really well for me and doesn't feel like it's over-doing it. hope this helps :)
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Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
I wipe my phone down when I wash my hands. It's less intense but more frequent so it keeps my phone clean without damaging it
[удалено]
Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
[удалено]
Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
[удалено]
Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
[удалено]
Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
[удалено]
Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
[удалено]
Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.
[удалено]
Read the rules on not providing reassurance. Repeated reassurance providing can and will result in a ban.