Emotional contamination in OCD involves the fear of picking up “bad vibes” or other negative qualities from other people.

That “Icky” Feeling: Let’s Talk About Emotional Contamination in OCD

Ever get the weird feeling that somebody’s bad mood or negative characteristics could actually rub off on you? Or maybe you’ve dodged a person, a place, or even a memory because it just felt… wrong, icky, or loaded with some kind of negativity you were scared would stick to you? If that sounds familiar, you’re definitely not the only one. You might be dealing with something that psychologists in the OCD world call Emotional Contamination (also sometimes called Mental Contamination).

It’s not the most frequently talked-about part of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but emotional contamination presents profound challenges for many people, and it’s often overlooked and misunderstood. Although emotional contamination is a type of contamination OCD, it doesn’t involve physical forms of contamination related to things like germs or dirt. Emotional contamination is more about “psychic contamination” (i.e., the fear that feelings, personality quirks, characteristics, an “essence,” or even just the vibe of other people, places, or things could somehow transfer onto you). And just to be clear, this isn’t merely about being extra sensitive to someone else’s less-than-stellar qualities. It’s a much more intense fear based on the idea that getting too close to someone with an undesirable trait could cause you to “catch” it, changing who you are for good.

What Does Emotional Contamination Look Like?

OCD, in its own highly “creative” (and totally unhelpful) way, can slap an “emotional contaminant” label on almost anything:

• Moody Morris’s Vibes: This is the fear that you might “catch” someone else’s pessimism, anger, depression, social awkwardness, or general unhappiness just by being near them or things they’ve touched.

• “Bad Luck” Brian’s Aura: Did something awful happen to someone? Maybe they lost someone they loved, or got a scary diagnosis. OCD might start whispering that their bad luck is now contagious and heading your way if you get too close.

• The “Dumb-Down” Effect: Ever worried that hanging around people who are “less smart” will somehow affect your intelligence? Yep, that’s emotional contamination too.

• Identity Theft (OCD Style): The fear that getting too close to someone with a very different (or super strong) personality will make you lose your own sense of self, as if your own personality is being overwritten by theirs. (e.g., “She’s so outgoing and loud, what if I turn into her and become less self-aware and introspective?”)

• The Sexual Orientation Switcheroo (SO-OCD Revisited): For some, this is a truly terrifying twist. The fear isn’t just about feelings, but about core parts of who you are. “If I hang out with my gay friends too much, or watch that movie, or even think that thought… will I become gay?” This isn’t about homophobia; it’s about OCD stirring up doubts about your sexual identity, making you feel vulnerable to “catching” someone else’s sexual orientation.

• The “Awkward is Contagious” Plague: Have you ever had a cringey moment? Tripped in front of everyone or stammered while ordering your coffee? OCD can latch onto that embarrassment and convince you it can contaminate objects or even future events. You might suddenly feel an overwhelming need to toss the clothes you wore during the “incident” or swear off that coffee shop for life.

• Fear of Losing Your Muse: Attention all you creative souls—musicians, artists, writers! Got a creative spark you cherish? OCD might cook up a special fear just for you: the worry that being around people you see as uncreative, unimaginative, or too “normal” could somehow block your own inspiration or dull your artistic edge.

• Catching the Ugly: Do you fret that a quick chat with a coworker you don’t find attractive might wreck your dating prospects? This obsession makes you believe that being near people you see as physically unattractive (or even touching things they own) could somehow make you less attractive, almost like you could get “infected” with ugliness and your appearance would change.

• Doubt About Disease & Differences: Worried you might get cancer from someone who was just diagnosed? Afraid you could develop autism by being near a colleague on the spectrum? This fear is about thinking you could catch an illness or a physical/mental condition just by being close to someone else who has it.

• Fear of Moral Contamination (e.g., “Becoming a Bad Person”): This can manifest as a fear that watching, reading, or listening to content about “bad” people (like criminals, or even fictional villains) could somehow implant their traits or urges in you. For instance, fearing that watching a true crime documentary about a serial killer might make you become one. This can be characteristic of harm OCD.

The Compulsion Cycle: How We Try to “Wash Off” the Ick

Just like with other forms of OCD, when these fears pop up, our go-to response may be to turn to compulsions (also known as rituals) to “fix” things. Rituals are behavioral or mental actions we take to prevent ourselves from changing. In other words, compulsions neutralize or rid us of the fear of losing parts of ourselves. Here are some common compulsions associated with emotional contamination:

• Avoidance: Making a wide detour around certain people, places, things, topics, movies, books, or even foods that you link to a “bad” feeling or a feared characteristic. Unfortunately, when you give into avoidance, your world can get pretty small, pretty fast.

• Washing/Cleaning Rituals: Showering again and again, washing your hands, using hand sanitizer or cleaning agents, or scrubbing objects to get rid of emotional contamination “residue.”

• Reassurance Seeking: Constantly asking people you trust (or grilling yourself), “Do I seem more negative lately?” “Am I acting dumber?” “Do you think I could ever hurt someone?” or “Was it okay that I [did X] after that awkward thing happened/after I watched that show?”

• Mental Rituals: Trying to cancel out “bad” thoughts (e.g., an intrusive violent thought after watching a crime show) with “good” ones, praying, replaying conversations or scenes in your head, analyzing your own thoughts and motives, or repeating certain words or phrases to “protect” your identity/morality, or to “scrub” a memory or thought clean. This also includes obsessively checking if you feel “different” than you used to, or if you still feel like “you” or a “good person.”

• Discarding “Contaminated” Items: Tossing out perfectly good stuff (like clothing, books, or physical media) because it feels like it’s associated with a bad experience, person, or feared characteristic.

These compulsions can take over your life and leave you feeling drained and ashamed, or like you’re going “crazy” for having these fears. And here’s the kicker: while these rituals might give you a quick breather, they actually end up making you believe even more strongly that the threat is real and the ritual is essential. This is the essence of the “OCD cycle.”

Psychological Mechanisms Behind the Fear

So, what’s going on in our heads to make these fears stick around and take root? A few psychological concepts may play a role in emotional contamination:

• Magical Thinking: This is a big one. It’s when your brain makes a connection between something (A) and a negative vibe/trait (B), and then decides that A itself is now permanently tainted with B, or that exposure to A can cause you to become B. It’s like your mind is misapplying the laws of cause and effect to things you can’t actually see or touch.

• Inflated Sense of Responsibility: People with OCD often feel an overwhelming need to prevent bad things from happening, and that includes stopping these emotional or moral “cooties” from spreading – to themselves or anyone else, or preventing themselves from becoming a source of harm.

• Heightened Disgust Sensitivity: That “icky” feeling? It might be your natural disgust reaction turned up to eleven, and it’s not just about gross physical stuff – it can also apply to things that feel morally wrong, emotionally draining, or even existentially troubling.

• Intolerance of Uncertainty: OCD hates not knowing for sure; it craves certainty. Emotional contamination fears exploit this because even if we don’t logically believe what OCD is saying (e.g., “watching this will make me a killer”), we can never perfectly disprove it. It makes us feel like we have to take precautions just in case.

• Thought-Action Fusion (TAF): Particularly relevant to fears of moral contamination, TAF is the belief that having a thought (especially an unwanted, intrusive one) is morally equivalent to performing the action, or that having the thought increases the likelihood of that action occurring. If watching a show triggers a violent thought, TAF can make you feel as if you’re on the verge of becoming violent.

Treatment Approaches: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

The good news? Just like all other forms of OCD, emotional contamination can be effectively treated. The most evidence-based psychological treatment for OCD is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

• Exposure: Exposure is a step-by-step process, in which you systematically face the people, places, objects, thoughts, media, and situations that trigger your emotional contamination fears. Although you can do exposure alone, you might benefit greatly from working with a psychologist who specializes in OCD treatment. They can show you the ropes and help you design an exposure protocol that is targeted to your treatment goals.

• Response Prevention: Response prevention involves fighting the urge to do your usual compulsions/rituals when anxiety emerges during an exposure. For example, if you touch a “contaminated” object or watch a “triggering” movie, you’d work on resisting urges to wash your hands, seek reassurance, or engage in any type of mental ritual.

So how does ERP work? ERP helps your brain learn new things. By repeatedly facing your fears without doing your rituals, you start to learn that:

• You CAN handle anxiety and discomfort. Fear is only temporary and it’s tolerable.

• You DON’T NEED rituals to be okay.

• OCD is good at lying and poor at predicting the future… in other words, the catastrophic things OCD predicts (like losing your identity from a conversation or becoming a killer from watching a movie) DON’T actually happen.

Example of ERP Scenarios

How might this look?

Vignette 1: Sarah – Fear of Becoming a Negative Person

• Contamination Fear: Sarah is terrified of “catching” what she sees as her coworker’s constant pessimism and unhappiness, just by talking to her or touching things on her desk. She’s scared it’ll make her a gloomy person too.

• Compulsions: Sarah goes out of her way to avoid her coworker, says no to working together, tries to mentally “block” her if they get too close, and obsesses over her own mood after any little chat.

• ERP Practice:

  • Getting Started: Sarah might begin by just imagining talking to her coworker without putting up those mental shields. She could even write out little scripts about becoming pessimistic herself, and then practice just sitting with the anxiety that bubbles up.

  • Taking Next Steps: She might then gradually get physically closer – maybe sitting in a chair nearer to her coworker’s empty desk for a few minutes, then longer, all while fighting the urge to check her own mood. Later, she could progress to touching something from her coworker’s desk (e.g., a stapler) and then not washing her hands or doing mental rituals afterwards.

  • Moving Forward: Eventually, she’d work towards having short, work-related chats with her coworker, trying to focus on the actual conversation instead of her internal anxiety. The goal would be to let any anxious thoughts or feelings about “catching” negativity just be there, without trying to “fix” them or “wash them off” afterwards.

Vignette 2: David – Fear of Losing Creativity

• Contamination Fear: David, a graphic designer, is scared that talking to a colleague he thinks is “unimaginative,” or even just being in a specific “boring” conference room, will poison his own creativity.

• Compulsions: David avoids this colleague and the conference room whenever possible. He’s constantly asking for reassurance about his creative ideas if he’s had any contact, and he does “creativity checks” (like forcing himself to brainstorm tons of ideas) if he feels “contaminated.”

• ERP Practice:

  • Getting Started: David might start by looking at pictures of the conference room or his colleague while actively stopping himself from doing any “creativity checks.” He could also try reading an article or book he considers “uncreative” without immediately trying to “balance it out” with intense creative work.

  • Taking Next Steps: He could then spend short, then longer, periods of time in that “boring” conference room without his usual creative tools (like his sketchbook or laptop) to prevent immediate checking. Later, he might try working on a simple, low-pressure creative task in that very room.

  • Moving Forward: The next step could be working with the “boring” colleague on a task, focusing on getting it done rather than on how he’s feeling internally. Afterwards, he’d practice not giving into the urge to seek reassurance or check on his creative abilities through mental compulsions.

Vignette 3: Maria – Fear of Becoming Ugly

• Contamination Fear: Maria is afraid that accidentally brushing against people she finds unattractive, or touching things they might have touched (like seats in the mall’s food court), will actually make her physically unattractive.

• Compulsions: Maria showers excessively after being out, constantly checks herself in mirrors for any tiny changes in her appearance, avoids crowded places, and throws out clothes she wore during what she considers “contamination incidents.”

• ERP Practice:

  • Getting Started: Maria could start with imaginal exposure – vividly picturing herself brushing past someone she considers unattractive and then not immediately running to shower. She might also look at pictures of diverse body types and appearances without comparing herself or rushing to a mirror.

  • Taking Next Steps: She could then try intentionally touching a public surface (like a park bench or a library book) and then gradually wait longer and longer before showering or checking the mirror. She might also practice wearing an item of clothing for a whole day that she previously would’ve thought was “contaminated.”

  • Moving Forward: Eventually, Maria would work towards walking through a fairly crowded public place (e.g., a mall), allowing for the possibility of accidental contact. She might purposefully sit in a chair in the food court that was previously occupied by someone she considers to be unattractive. The challenge would be to resist the urge to shower or check her appearance afterwards.

Vignette 4: Alex – Fear of Becoming a Serial Killer

• Contamination Fear: Alex, an avid fan of crime dramas, develops an intense fear that watching TV shows or movies depicting serial killers could contaminate him with their violent thoughts, urges, or characteristics, ultimately leading him to become a serial killer himself. He worries that the “essence” of the killer could transfer through the screen. He is particularly bothered, because he previously enjoyed these shows, and he’s afraid about what that says about him.

• Compulsions: Alex starts meticulously avoiding any media with violent themes, especially those focusing on psychopathy or murder. If accidentally exposed, he engages in prolonged mental rituals to “neutralize” the perceived contamination, such as replaying “good” memories, praying for hours, or mentally listing all the reasons he’s a good person. He also repeatedly seeks reassurance from his parents that he doesn’t seem “different” or “more aggressive” and excessively analyzes his own thoughts for any sign of “killer-like” tendencies.

• ERP Practice:

  • Getting Started: Alex might begin by looking at promotional images or reading neutral plot summaries of crime shows he used to enjoy but now fears. He would practice allowing any anxious thoughts or urges to “check” his morality to be present without engaging in mental rituals or reassurance seeking.

  • Taking Next Steps: He could then progress to watching very short, relatively tame clips from a crime show (e.g., a scene without explicit violence but featuring a character who is a killer). The duration would gradually increase. After watching, he would actively resist the urge to perform mental neutralizing rituals, analyze his thoughts, or seek reassurance.

  • Moving Forward: Eventually, Alex would work towards watching a full episode of a crime drama he fears, perhaps starting with one he previously saw and knew the outcome of, then moving onto new ones. The key would be to allow any intrusive thoughts or uncomfortable feelings about “becoming like the killer” to arise and pass without engaging in compulsions, including self-reassurance or analyzing compulsions.

ERP often works even better when combined with other kinds of therapy, like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT helps people become more psychologically flexible and keep doing things that matter to them, even when uncomfortable thoughts and feelings show up. Sometimes, medications like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) can also be a big help. They can dial down the intensity of anxiety, often making it easier to dive into ERP and get the most out of it.

Wrapping Up

Emotional contamination is a tricky, “sticky,” and often incredibly isolating part of OCD. But here’s the crucial thing to remember: although it may be uncomfortable, IT IS treatable.

If you’re worn out by a world that feels like it’s constantly shrinking, tired of fighting a never-ending battle to “decontaminate” yourself from emotional, intellectual, or identity-related invisible threats, please know that help is out there. With the right strategies like ERP (and maybe an OCD specialist to guide your way), you can step out of the struggle and take back your space, your belongings, your relationships, and, most importantly, your quality of life.

My South Florida (Palm Beach County) OCD treatment center offers individual, intensive, and group-based ERP for emotional contamination OCD, as well as other forms of OCD and severe anxiety.  Visit our website to learn more.  And if you liked reading this post, don’t forget to check out my other post on emotional contamination in OCD.

Questions?  Comments?  Struggling with a form of emotional contamination?  Sound off below!