Ptsd And Hygiene

[MeowMeow]

If it helps at all - this is soooo common. And not just for ptsders. People struggling with de...

thank you so much for sharing. Means a lot, and I will definitely be taking all of this into consideration. :)

 

[MeowMeow]

I

MeowMeow welcome to the forum :)

You are definitely not alone in this, it's something I also struggl...

I think that's a thing to, I'm not entirely sure what it's linked to and I want to find out what it is so that I can work past it.

 

[MeowMeow]

I have a fatal and progressive disease. I was told that the progression of that disease, alcoholism, c...

thanks for all your words and insight.

I text my parents MeowMeow too :)

 

[EveHarrington]

I go maybe a week at most? Whenever my hair is totally disgusting and I physically feel gross/uncomfortable.

I am embarrassed about not showering every day even. Go figure. At least dermatologists say showering every day can be bad for us. It destroys my hair and skin. Apparently those in western society are overly obsessed with cleanliness. And it's not necessarily the best thing for us. It doesn't stop me from being embarrassed.

Like if I ever had a partner. (Hilarious I know!) I mean I'd be mortified if they ever found out I don't shower every day. They'd think I was a disgusting pig and ditch me. Like I need that kind of pressure!

 

[Cannottakethis]

@MeowMeow
I did the same thing as a child, running the water in the shower and pretending till my parents caught on.

Fast forward to adulthood, and although I love being clean, I don't shower everyday and don't wash my hair every time I shower. You can usually tell how depressed I am by how bad my hair looks/smells. And the house gets messy too. There have been many days that I don't brush my teeth (I'm now running my tongue over my teeth trying to remember if I did them this morning). I've mentioned this briefly to therapists but nobody has made a big deal about it so I think it must be pretty usual for depression/PTSD.

@EveHarrington, I do know a lot of people that don't shower every day. I don't think anyone would be disgusted. It's true that western society is way more obsessed with cleanliness and daily showering than most places. My hair also looks much better when it's a little dirty. My husband doesn't shower everyday and he gets why I can't wash my mountain of hair more than 1-2 times a week.

Personally, IMO, there is a certain vulnerability in taking a shower and even brushing our teeth. Taking off our clothes, opening our mouths wide....

When I'm feeling better I still don't shower every day, but I'm better with brushing my teeth. My husband brushes his like 5 times a day so he's a good model for me.

 

[MeowMeow]

I go maybe a week at most? Whenever my hair is totally disgusting and I physically feel gross/unc...

I actually chuckled a bit to that partner thing- because I've said the same thing forever. It's scary and thinking about a future living my life this way would turn off anybody...

 

[MeowMeow]

@MeowMeow
I did the same thing as a child, running the water in the shower and prete...

Thanks for sharing. Yeah I haven't quite uncovered the reason behind it. But hoping to once I build up the courage to talk about it, I have an appt with the therapist tomorrow so hopefully after getting everyone's insight and realizing that I'm not alone on this, I'll be able to tell her.

She briefly knew that showering was hard but I never said how often I did it. And nobody know about the teeth thing...

 

[Deleted member 541]

I have the opposite issue. At one time I was in the tub several times a day, and brushing my teeth all the time. Cleaning my home was an 8 hour daily chore. I'm sooo much better now. Shower daily(have too). Brush teeth 2 times a day, and I only clean once a week.. BUT, everything has to be in its place, neat and tidy.

We're all different, we all have different issues, and we all deal differently.

 

[Ronin]

I have a wide variety of issues with cleanliness & fluids & liquids & places respectively, depending what is on me / around me and where, some things don't register the same at all.

I also have zero tolerance to people commenting on my body in regards to cleanliness (as in if I don't care for it at the time? I'm at a wildly different mindset, and you better not screw with me, because when I don't care for me, it goes triple for other people I'll happily ditch, before self care again registers and I'm back to happily wowing at how awesome life is and humanity is et cetera Protect.) So, LOL. Balances.

I'd start small. Find one thing that makes hygiene an oomph or at least not completely obnoxious awful danger bells thing.
Build up from that & don't reprimand yourself for not doing things in 'the usual' schedules, or as society tells you should be doing them.
They don't get it, they weren't traumatized, trauma hijacks all sorts of 'normal', 'normal' stops applying there.

Your comfort zone is important, where you want to get is important, but who set the standard in the first place isn't.

 

[qwyoey]

This is so so so normal.

As a child I went from feverishly cleaning myself, sometimes spending hours in the bathtub scrubbing, washing my hair several times until it broke off, and making my skin raw.

Then a few years ago during the worst phase of my depression in conjunction with season depression I was immobile. I barely moved. Showering was not happening. I was fortunate to be self-employed and work from home, and also to have a very non-judgmental husband who was a lot of support.

I felt like once I share with my husband how hard it was to do even the littlest of things, a huge weight was lifted. We then felt it was necessary for me to share what I was able to do each day- as a way to track my depression, and to see if things were getting better or worse. We ended up making a sticker chart like you have in kindergarten, and I would get stickers each day for showering, brushing my teeth, hair, throwing something away, making the bed...and so on. Eventually we did away with it because it became easier and easier to get to a workable place. But when I feel bad about my still lingering depression, my husband reminds me I used to not be able to even earn a sticker a day sometimes.

It does get better, but it's a slow progression. We also worked on removing obstacles to me showering- like getting a space heater because I get cold easily, and a big comfy bath robe for when I get out. I got really invested in skin care and that has other bonuses because I feel like going out a lot more when I look better.

 

[Ronin]

If you want to be raped less, shave your head. Stay dirty. You bathe too much. You make me worry.

Baba. If I stab him, they won't deport me. I have citizenship here, remember?

You take too many risks.

:roflmao::roflmao::hilarious::hilarious:

The sister thread of hilarious movie quotes doesn't even compare.

First the nun then the Babushka. Right goddamn on.

 

[MeowMeow]

This is so so so normal.

As a child I went from feverishly cleaning myself, sometimes spending hours...

Thanks, that definitely helps. the sticker chart sounds cool, i like to make charts like that! and I love stickers (who doesn't?) And, the self care aspect also sounds lovely. I've started putting on cream after my showers, but the comfy bathrobe sounds like a good idea too!

Thanks so much xo