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A lot of pure OCD actually comes down to sanitization. Hear me out. When you have cleaning ocd, you want to sanitize the counter to make sure there's no bacteria on it. When you have pure O, you want to sanitize your brain to make sure you don't have bad thoughts, to make sure you didn't have bad intent, to make sure that you're a good person, you have to be so good. It's almost like pure sanitized. Do you see how there's a big correlation between the two? And it's it. The behavior is also similar where in one situation you're cleaning the counter over and over again, and in the other one you're trying to cleanse your brain, changing bad thoughts for good thoughts, trying to figure out why you had this thought, what does this mean? Does this mean I'm a bad person? Trying to suppress the thoughts, trying to keep busy, to not get the thoughts. It's very similar, and you need to treat it exactly as you would if you. If you're somebody who has pure O who's experiencing what I'm talking about, treat it how you would. If you had a friend who had contamination ocd, what would you tell them? Leave the counter alone, it's fine. It's cleaning up. It's normal. Don't wash it. Same thing with your brain. Your brain is fine. There's nothing wrong with it. You have a regular brain. We're not sanitizing to perfection. We're all human beings. We all get 70,000 thoughts a day. It doesn't matter what went through your mind. Don't turn this into but I only can have perfect thoughts. I had a bad thought against whatever, against my family member, against my friend, against my loved one, against God. 70,000 thoughts a day. All kinds of stuff can go through your mind. It's okay. Choose to ignore. Don't show your brain that this is a big deal. Show your brain that this is nothing. Because that's the truth. That's the reality. It is nothing. It's one of 70,000 thoughts stream that went past you. I'm Ali Gray. I'm an expert in OCD recovery because I've been working with clients for the last 20 years and I can tell you anybody can fully recover. If you need help, the link is below.
Date: May 23, 2026
Host: Ali Greymond, OCD Specialist & Author
In this episode, Ali Greymond draws a powerful parallel between Cleaning/Contamination OCD and Pure-O (purely obsessional OCD). She highlights the common thread of “sanitization”—whether it’s compulsively scrubbing counters or trying to perfect your thoughts—and offers practical advice on breaking free from both patterns. The conversation is grounded in compassion, lived experience, and actionable recovery steps.
“A lot of pure OCD actually comes down to sanitization. Hear me out.”
— Ali Greymond [00:00]
“When you have pure O, you want to sanitize your brain to make sure you don't have bad thoughts, to make sure you didn't have bad intent, to make sure that you're a good person, you have to be so good. It's almost like pure sanitized.”
— Ali Greymond [00:06]
“It's very similar, and you need to treat it exactly as you would if you…had contamination ocd. What would you tell them? Leave the counter alone, it's fine.”
— Ali Greymond [01:12]
“Same thing with your brain. Your brain is fine. There's nothing wrong with it. You have a regular brain. We're not sanitizing to perfection. We're all human beings.”
— Ali Greymond [01:20]
“70,000 thoughts a day. All kinds of stuff can go through your mind. It's okay. Choose to ignore. Don't show your brain that this is a big deal. Show your brain that this is nothing. Because that's the truth. That's the reality. It is nothing.”
— Ali Greymond [02:08]
| Time | Segment/Event | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Introduction of the “sanitization” metaphor | | 00:21 | Behavioral similarities between Cleaning OCD & Pure-O | | 01:11 | How to approach & treat Pure-O like Contamination OCD | | 02:01 | Normalizing the volume and randomness of human thoughts | | 02:41 | Encouragement and conclusion |
For listeners seeking actionable recovery strategies and hope, this episode distills the essence of OCD’s mental and physical compulsions and provides concrete, compassionate advice for change.