Dealing with Hand Washing Addiction
Washing your hands often is good. Health experts actually recommend that you wash your hands often, especially before and after you eat. However, if you do it excessively, this can be a problem. It is possible that your desire to wash your hands is already a sign of an obsession or an addiction. Read on to find out how to deal with this problem.
Excessive hand washing as a sign of an obsessive-compulsive disorder
An excessive washing of hands can be viewed as a sign of OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Medical experts explain OCD as a disorder in which a person suffers from unreasonable thought, fear, or worry. And in order to deal with these fears and worries, the person with OCD performs ritualized activities or compulsions. The excessive washing of hands can be viewed through this lens. If you, for instance, worry too much about getting germs and bacteria, and you think that the only way to deal with it is to wash your hands very often, you are probably suffering from OCD. Of course, it is normal to keep yourself clean all the time, but when you worry too much, then it is not normal anymore.
Effects of excessively washing your hands
One of the negative effects of excessive washing of hands is the drying of your skin. Washing too often drains out the moisture of your skin. This is especially true if you are using alcohol and alcohol-based sanitizers. But this is not the only negative effect of hand washing addiction. You have to remember that excessive washing is a sign of OCD. Because of this, the bad effect is not only limited to the physical aspect; your mental state is also at risk.
Dealing with an addiction to excessive washing of hands
Because OCD manifesting through the excessive washing of hands is a serious disease, it also needs a serious treatment. There are lots of ways to deal with it. One is to undergo a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. The technique commonly employed to treat OCD is Exposure and Ritual Prevention. In this treatment, the patient is taught to overcome his or her fears and to avoid doing rituals to ease unreasonable anxiety. The second method approaches OCD as a disorder caused by certain chemicals in the brain. The treatment for this involves having the patient take serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants.
If you think that you worry too much and that you perform hand washing excessively for no other reason than your powerful fear of getting dirty or getting yourself infected with pathogens, then it is time that you seek for professional help because you may be suffering from OCD.
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Hand washing is a part of our everyday lives. We are constantly being reminded to practice it before and after eating, and after using the toilet. It is the first step in eliminating risks of acquiring all kinds of diseases. However, there are people who routinely do hand washing even when it is completely unnecessary until it becomes an interference with the way a person lives his/her life. This is one of the many forms of an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where people are never satisfied with performing a certain task just once; they do the same thing over and over while getting the same results. Having this disorder not only affects someone’s health, given that the person would end up with dried, cracked or sometimes even wounded hands. The mental state of a person is also unstable if they have a compulsion. It is very important that they get professional assistance in order to control the constant need to wash their hands. With therapy and medications, along with support from loved ones, a treatment is bound to be a success.