Jump to content

Contamination OCD? Reasonable anxiety?


Recommended Posts

13 hours ago, AnxiousAnnie said:

Hi 

This was work on an old house in which structures were broken up as you can see in the original post. I knew nothing about asbestos risk then and it's only since becoming aware that I've begun to worry. 

No I don't know for certain it was there but there is a good liklihood it was in the artex. I accept I have no evidence for or against in being in the loft but the risks if it was are huge. 

I can't do anything reasonably to confirm or deny this now without contacting the new homeowner there and appearing insane. 

I accept there is nothing I can do about what I may have beeb exposed to tho it does still terrify me. But I'm concerned about ongoing risk particularly to the kids from soft furnishings that were in the house at the time as any asbestos present can't just b cleaned off by bunging it in the washer or hoovering etc  

 

 

I didn't realise that you no longer live in the house that had the broken structures/ asbestos risk.

If I'd realised that I'd have said with confidence from the outset that all your worries now are OCD. All of it. 

Someone without OCD wouldn't 'track' the risk of asbestos being on possessions and take the fear with them to their new home. :no:

Can we guarantee 100% that there is zero asbestos on the soft furnishings? No. But we don't need to. The amount will be minimal at best (worst?) Asbestos risk is about significant exposure, not just 'any level of exposure' such as the possibility of a few fibres in the air or a few asbestos dust particles on surfaces.

Were the furnishings visibly covered in a layer of asbestos dust? If not then it's not significant risk.

Which brings me back to how this is perceived risk and obsessive thinking rather than a genuine asbestos-related problem.

The arguments that you have a genuine ongoing risk to worry about is all OCD talking.

Link to comment
8 hours ago, snowbear said:

 

 

I didn't realise that you no longer live in the house that had the broken structures/ asbestos risk.

If I'd realised that I'd have said with confidence from the outset that all your worries now are OCD. All of it. 

Someone without OCD wouldn't 'track' the risk of asbestos being on possessions and take the fear with them to their new home. :no:

Can we guarantee 100% that there is zero asbestos on the soft furnishings? No. But we don't need to. The amount will be minimal at best (worst?) Asbestos risk is about significant exposure, not just 'any level of exposure' such as the possibility of a few fibres in the air or a few asbestos dust particles on surfaces.

Were the furnishings visibly covered in a layer of asbestos dust? If not then it's not significant risk.

Which brings me back to how this is perceived risk and obsessive thinking rather than a genuine asbestos-related problem.

The arguments that you have a genuine ongoing risk to worry about is all OCD talking.

I genuinely think that it is potentially more significant than you realise, as if there was loose asbestos in the loft it does contaminate everything and can't be removed by simple washing / vacuuming. It is the most dangerous type. 

Link to comment
10 hours ago, AnxiousAnnie said:

I genuinely think that it is potentially more significant than you realise

I think perhaps we're talking at cross purposes here, Annie. :unsure:

The title for your original post was 'Contamination OCD ? Reasonable anxiety?'

To cut a long story short, even if you were exposed to asbestos, even if the risk was high, the amount of anxiety you're experiencing over this now isn't reasonable.

It's the result of thinking obsessively and catastrophising about the risk.

Let's imagine Joe Average was living in your old house instead of you. How would the average person deal with this?  Most people would be like your ex, like the builder guy who did the repairs. If they were worried they might have worn a mask at the time, but once the job was done they'd forget about it. Once they moved away from the house it would become ancient history, never to be thought of again. They certainly wouldn't be ruminating on it 10 years on, or thinking of possessions from the house at that time as 'contaminated' or as an ongoing risk.

It's not that most people don't realise the significance. It's that they think rationally about it - they are able to accept an element of risk without knowing for certain. They are able to put it in the past. Then they get on with their life, willing to deal with any medical problem IF it ever occurs.

Compare that to your reaction - you won't accept not knowing and ruminate on it often, still seeking certainty 10 years on. You keep track of the possessions which were in the house and still think of them as dangerous. You worry about developing a medical problem even though you have no idea if you were exposed to a significant amount of asbestos (or indeed any) and have no symptoms. And you're living in a state of high anxiety, fretting over something you can't change without even knowing if there's something worth fretting over.

 

You're free to choose how to think about this. You don't have to stay locked into the irrational thinking process that gives you this continual  'high risk' perception which stops you from letting it go. You can if you want to - but the result will be another 10 years of anxiety and uncertainty. :( 

Or you can accept you've been caught up in OCD thinking and choose to change how you think and behave over it. You won't get certainty either way, but one choice leaves you anxious while the other option sets you free to get on with life normally.

It can be hard to accept that OCD thoughts are unreasonable. They always seem so plausible; convincing you the risk is genuine, the possible results catastrophic, the action you must take in the form of compulsions is sensible or necessary rather than extreme. But it's all extreme - out-of-the-ordinary thinking, an out-of-the-ordinary behavioural response.

If you want to get back to normal (put this in the past and stop feeling anxious) then you have to start addressing the thinking and behaviour (OCD) not stay focused on facts about asbestos/ the past.

 

Link to comment

Hello, having read through this post with interest I feel I must make a comment..   I'm not going to say anything about OCD as the others have already and comprehensively covered that aspect, but if I can, may I say something about asbestos. Asbestosis is a truely horrible thing to develop, really awful...  but, it takes years and years of constant and quite intense exposure to asbestos to develop asbestosis later on in life. Most building materials used in the UK which have historically used asbestos in them, use the 'reletively harmless' (the words of the HSE themselves) White Asbestos, as opposed to the more dangerous blue or brown types... there is a quote somewhere online stating that white asbestos is 500 times less dangerous than the other two types, and it would take something along the lines of 25 years in an enviroment of 1 million asbestos fibres per m3 for you to develop asbestosis. Asbestos has it's hazards, of course it does, but it would be foolish to assume that there has not been a huge amount of scaremongering by both the government and independant companies that remove asbestos for extortionate rates. The fact of the matter is that there is and has been asbestos in many many things in our everyday lives for many many years, and you, along with me, and everyone else has almost definately been exposed to asbestos in some way shape or form throughout our lives, and as far as I'm aware the percentage of individuals developing asbestosis is miniscule, as in 0.001%. You really have nothing at all to worry about, if you were in South Africa (where historically the largest and most productive asbestos mines were based) and made to mine pure asbestos with no protective gear, and for years on end... then you may have concern to worry,  doing some building work and having some contact with loft lagging and pre 1980's artex.. nothing to worry about in the slightest... honestly, nothing at all.

Link to comment
1 hour ago, McW said:

Hello, having read through this post with interest I feel I must make a comment..   I'm not going to say anything about OCD as the others have already and comprehensively covered that aspect, but if I can, may I say something about asbestos. Asbestosis is a truely horrible thing to develop, really awful...  but, it takes years and years of constant and quite intense exposure to asbestos to develop asbestosis later on in life. Most building materials used in the UK which have historically used asbestos in them, use the 'reletively harmless' (the words of the HSE themselves) White Asbestos, as opposed to the more dangerous blue or brown types... there is a quote somewhere online stating that white asbestos is 500 times less dangerous than the other two types, and it would take something along the lines of 25 years in an enviroment of 1 million asbestos fibres per m3 for you to develop asbestosis. Asbestos has it's hazards, of course it does, but it would be foolish to assume that there has not been a huge amount of scaremongering by both the government and independant companies that remove asbestos for extortionate rates. The fact of the matter is that there is and has been asbestos in many many things in our everyday lives for many many years, and you, along with me, and everyone else has almost definately been exposed to asbestos in some way shape or form throughout our lives, and as far as I'm aware the percentage of individuals developing asbestosis is miniscule, as in 0.001%. You really have nothing at all to worry about, if you were in South Africa (where historically the largest and most productive asbestos mines were based) and made to mine pure asbestos with no protective gear, and for years on end... then you may have concern to worry,  doing some building work and having some contact with loft lagging and pre 1980's artex.. nothing to worry about in the slightest... honestly, nothing at all.

Not even if it was loose asbestos insulation which I've been told "contaminates everything" if disturbed. Ive no idea how commonly this is used in domestic properties. I also don't think mesothelioma is as dose dependent. 

 

Link to comment
9 minutes ago, AnxiousAnnie said:

Not even if it was loose asbestos insulation which I've been told "contaminates everything" if disturbed. Ive no idea how commonly this is used in domestic properties. I also don't think mesothelioma is as dose dependent. 

 

No.

Link to comment

You may...  I work in the construction industry and have previously sat asbestos awareness courses. In the course of my work (thirty two years worth) I have worked extensively with many many different building products and as I am a bit of a 'geek' when it comes to my work ie: I like to know about the materials I am working with, how they are produced and sourced etc, as such I have also researched asbestos usage within the UK building industry, along with the dangers (or not) of asbestos. The figures I have quoted you regarding 25 years, 1 millions fibres in 3m2 can be found on 'cancer chat' or something along those lines, forgive me as I can't rmember the exact name of the website should you wish to research it... and as you mention 'mesothelioma' this may be of interest to you. The HSE stands for the UK Health and Safety Executive and the statement I quoted by them can be found on a website called 'nocrysotileban.com' archives... or 'the great asbestos hysteria.' 

Link to comment
13 hours ago, McW said:

You may...  I work in the construction industry and have previously sat asbestos awareness courses. In the course of my work (thirty two years worth) I have worked extensively with many many different building products and as I am a bit of a 'geek' when it comes to my work ie: I like to know about the materials I am working with, how they are produced and sourced etc, as such I have also researched asbestos usage within the UK building industry, along with the dangers (or not) of asbestos. The figures I have quoted you regarding 25 years, 1 millions fibres in 3m2 can be found on 'cancer chat' or something along those lines, forgive me as I can't rmember the exact name of the website should you wish to research it... and as you mention 'mesothelioma' this may be of interest to you. The HSE stands for the UK Health and Safety Executive and the statement I quoted by them can be found on a website called 'nocrysotileban.com' archives... or 'the great asbestos hysteria.' 

Thank you. It's good to know that some professionals do do their due diligence etc. Do you know anything about how likely it is that there will have been loose asbestos insulation in my old property? 

Link to comment

Annie, no answer to your last question is going to solve this. The world's utmost authority on asbestos could tell you everything is peachy but OCD will continue to hammer you with obsessions and doubt.

This won't stop until you make it stop. This entire thread is a big compulsion for you. Lots of reassurance given. Has it done any good? No.

Put your foot down. End this. Grit your teeth and work hard to end your compulsions. No more Googling. No more seeking reassurance here. Work on stopping your rumination.

This isn't about asbestos. It's about OCD.

Link to comment
9 hours ago, PolarBear said:

Annie, no answer to your last question is going to solve this. The world's utmost authority on asbestos could tell you everything is peachy but OCD will continue to hammer you with obsessions and doubt.

This won't stop until you make it stop. This entire thread is a big compulsion for you. Lots of reassurance given. Has it done any good? No.

Put your foot down. End this. Grit your teeth and work hard to end your compulsions. No more Googling. No more seeking reassurance here. Work on stopping your rumination.

This isn't about asbestos. It's about OCD.

I'm not saying this isn't ocd related, however, I have found @McW answers helpful and don't think I googled at all yesterday. 

Link to comment
5 hours ago, AnxiousAnnie said:

I'm not saying this isn't ocd related, however, I have found @McW answers helpful and don't think I googled at all yesterday. 

That's good. Researching is a common compulsion with this type of OCD. 

Try to leave this alone. 

Link to comment

However much information you accumulate, and however much that may lessen your concerns, you aren't going to get the certainty OCD craves.

OCD is saying you probably have asbestosis gradually building inside you, and you are probably contaminating your children.

So, with this rigid approach in your head, there will be fear and anxiety, which would only be overcome if you hsd full certainty that there is actually no risk.

But since you can't have that, it's now time to accept what risk there may be, and get your life back.

Because, whatever the theme of OCD, we can only beat it if we hold our ground and accept some degree of uncertainty, lose the fear and the anxiety will then fade.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...