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Is this my OCD?


Guest mrs p1ckes

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Guest mrs p1ckes

I have been an OCD sufferer for 5 years of my life.

For the past 2 years, I have been off meds and coping using a combination of meditation and mindfulness.

I am 25 years old and I have been recently suffering with ill health. I have bladder problems and am being treated for pre-cancerous cells.

I seem to now have an obsession re. my health and wondered whether anybody could help me rationalise my current thought processes. Normally, I can talk myself round but I'm struggling this time as I'm not sure whether I'm in real danger from infection, or whether this is my OCD manifesting again.

I bought a pair of shorts from a shop a few days ago. Yesterday I put them on, and noticed a mark on them. Instinctively, I then put my finger in my mouth and rubbed them to get the stain out, and then repeated. After doing this, I panicked that the stain had been orangey-red and could have been blood, particularly menstrual blood. I scoured my body for signs it was mine, but found nothing.

I am now petrified of catching a blood-borne infection, particularly HIV or Hep. Despite knowing that these things normally require fresh blood, I cannot get the thought out of my mind. I am spending half my time considering going to my GP to ask to be tested, and the other half telling myself to stop being so silly, and this is just another compulsion.

Any help whatsoever would be very appreciated.

Thanks x

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Hi Mrs P1ckes,

I think it's always worth remembering that OCD is just OCD no matter what the subject matter is or how close to reality it may be. Ie, some OCD 'scenarios' can seem to have a more realistic chance of being a real problem than others. But it is always important to remember that your OCD will inflate your fears & worries into an unrealistic degree.

What I'm trying to say is, with your worries about the stain & the chance of you having caught something from wiping this smudge, what is a logically solution to this situation & what is an OCD sufferers reaction to this situation?

The thoughts may keep on nagging you, but giving into them will, in the long term not benefit you at all.

I find when I get into these situations, taking a step back & putting things into perspective helps me to assess the scale of the situation as it were & then if I find what actions I need to take are the right measures, I have to live with the anxiety & the thoughts nagging at me to do more, in the end they tend to fade away & I realise that my OCD was making a mountain out of a mole hill :original:

I hope you have found some of this useful

Symps

Edited by Symps07
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Guest mrs p1ckes

Thank you Bambi.

I've never experienced any sort of contamination OCD before but this struck me with such a fear which just wasn't related to the perceived risk.

None of my obsessions in the past have struck me like this - thank you so much for your help.

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I used to think everything had blood on it. Blood on toilet paper, blood in my food , blood on a door handle. My mind would intentionally throw the intrusive thought , I would then check and get relief ( dopamine rush phenomenan )

Do not argue with the thought, do not try to re assure yourself , just let it be. The key is to not do compulsions ie Google , asking your dr , going back checking stain. The anxiety will be great. Your mind will throw a bunch of catastoriphjc scenarios at you ( omg in going to get x y z disease). DO NOT respond to these thoughts. Do not argue or try to re assure. Let the anxiety remain , DO NOT do compulsions, and the anxiety WILL subside.

Edited by Markie1974
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