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OCD and Coronavirus


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1 hour ago, Gemma7 said:

You can't be perfect all of the time.

 

Hello, my name is Ashley, I don't believe we have met before?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

 

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On 09/04/2020 at 00:56, Orwell1984 said:

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you probably read it in the letter that was sent out in the post over the past week

Bear in mind that this highlighted point is more relevant to a household with several people in it (and that you may not be able to rely on them following good hygiene practise)  In your home, if living alone, providing you wash hands thoroughly on returning home from somewhere, Only those things touched limmediatelly ike front door handle, maybe a light switch or alarm pad by the door, other things in the house won't pose a problem really

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Read through your advice. My problem is I’ve been suffering with dark thought ocd for 20 year+ and find it hard enough to leave the house without checking the front door a million times.

ive had cbt which helped and been taking ecitalopram for nearly as long as I’ve had ocd. I have a rare bleeding disorder, asthma, high blood pressure, and my Asian wife has damaged lungs from TB. Also I have to help my Mum who lives in another household and is on antibody treatment. Yet the medical professions have given me the same advice as the useless government and don’t expect a problem.

the problem I currently have is my employer a college is now gearing up to reopen. I’ve been working from home for about 8 weeks and don’t see why I can’t continue. There are some things I can’t do remotely but I’m in my late 40’s and we have other staff in there 20’s early 30’s, who I think would be at far less risk.

Edited by Logan5
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Hi Logan, 

7 hours ago, Logan5 said:

I’m in my late 40’s and we have other staff in there 20’s early 30’s, who I think would be at far less risk.

I hear your concerns, especial;ly given your family's health as a whole. It must seem logical to you to ask the younger work colleagues to return to work first. However you have no idea if any of them have medical conditions which put them at risk, or perhaps are living in households where someone ill or very elderly is being shielded. I'm sure many of them could produce a list of reasons not to be the first to return to work too if asked about their overall situation in the same way you are assessing your own predicament.

Do you think your concerns could be driven more by OCD than the specific health issues you mentioned? It's natural to look for 'real issues' to support you continuing to work from home, but it does sound as though your anxiety comes from OCD thinking disproportionately increasing the dangers in your mind. Have you been given a date to return to work yet, or is much of this worry based on the presumption you might be asked? It could be your employer is already making a list of which employees are to return to work first - with you at the bottom of the list. All the worry and anger would then be for nothing!

 

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I'm in kind of similar situation as Logan5 with regards to returning to the office. 

Currently I'm locked down with my girlfriend, who has underlying health issues, and is at high risk. I normally rent a room as lodger in a house I share with 70+ y/o landlords, who also have health issues, although are very active. On top of that, my parents are both 70 ish, meaning they could be seen as risky, although they are in good health.

My stress levels have reached fever pitch as I'm unsure what to do if I get called back sooner rather than later. I have been working from home, but not my usual day to day tasks. My girlfriend usually lives on her own, so I would be leaving her for at least two months until August. Then there's the risk of catching the virus at work and passing it on to either my landlords or my parents, depending on who I choose to stay with after I leave my girlfriend's flat. The office is being re laid out to allow more space between people and are cleaning regularly, so I've been told.

I feel completely stuck and trapped in a situation where my OCD and stress has gotten much worse, although I have been seeing therapists of late. If I didn't have to go back until the R number goes right down, there would be no problem. 

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Hi Logan5. Your employer will engage in collective bargaining for wages, redundancy, grievance, disciplinary and health and safety procedures. The latter will cover the coronavirus situation. If you look at the Unison site (mentioned in your thread) you will see briefings for negotiators for workplace safety including the legal position under the Equality Act for those persons with preexisting medical conditions in the coronavirus situation.  
 

The role of trade unions and professional bodies such as British Medical Association and Unison is to counterbalance the power of the employer and develop explicit criteria for redundancy, wage rates and health and safety rather than leave it solely to the employer or line manager. Your negotiators will aim to develop explicit criteria for employees in the current situation. If you are in the vulnerable category it is likely that you will be among the last to be redeployed back to work. I think you should ask your rep for guidance and the criteria which is being negotiated. I doubt whether part of the criteria will include age at 40 but it might include 60 or 70. You are right that there is a elevated risk at 40 and the risk rises with each decade.

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I’m within spitting distance of 50 so more 50 than 40.

i have texted the union rep for my area, as the one at work resigned doing it earlier in the year. That was 2 days ago, so will phone him.

i know OCD can increase worry about things, but my wife doesn’t have it and she’s not sending our son back to school until the infection rate is much lower. She being Asian thinks the UK response to this is almost criminal. She even wanted to move back to her country with our son until things return to some form of normal.

taking advice from a government on what’s safe to do and what’s not, when we’ve got a top 5 spot for infections and deaths, is like listening to the general sending people over the top in the 1st world war.

i think one Mum put it quite well “when i see everyone back in the Houses of Parliament sat next to each other then I’ll send my kids back”.

also why does the gov insist on using a lower figure than the ons? And have you noticed how the comparison slide with other countries has been removed since being asked to return to work? I don’t trust the gov either flavour, but especially Tories who are in the pocket of big business.

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  • 8 months later...
On 15/05/2020 at 21:55, Caramoole said:

Bear in mind that this highlighted point is more relevant to a household with several people in it (and that you may not be able to rely on them following good hygiene practise)  In your home, if living alone, providing you wash hands thoroughly on returning home from somewhere, Only those things touched limmediatelly ike front door handle, maybe a light switch or alarm pad by the door, other things in the house won't pose a problem really

I can’t cope with this because I’ve stopped touching handles and taps because that’s what people touch when they come home. When they come home they touch these things without washing hands. 
How can I clean/sanitise everything, every time somebody comes home from outside. 

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On 10/02/2021 at 19:34, Sarahis said:

I can’t cope with this because I’ve stopped touching handles and taps because that’s what people touch when they come home. When they come home they touch these things without washing hands. 
How can I clean/sanitise everything, every time somebody comes home from outside. 

 

Hi Sarahis,

I think this is where it's become so difficult for many with OCD (myself included) and COVID. I don't think you need to worry too much about washing surfaces if only your household are there or when your family have been out and come back. I think I read in the summer to wash surfaces like handles if mixing household.  I found this on the Which website which explains why the advice is not to wash surfaces.

Quote

Professor Sally Bloomfield, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, notes that, rather than cleaning the house, the goal is: ‘to prevent the person-to-person spread of infection, which requires good respiratory and hand hygiene [washing hands and covering your mouth and nose if you sneeze or cough] and good hygiene of contact surfaces.’

I am not an expert on this, but I think the point is, if your household have picked up COVID when out and about,  no matter how much surface wiping the greater risk is not from touching, but from airborne particles (I think).  

The advice we have within the office for workplaces (not home) is to try and clean common surfaces at start and end of day.  So if the OCD is dictating you need to clean try and limit to that. But remember, they are compulsions and important to address them too when you can.

Are you getting any help at the moment for the OCD?
 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since December my congested throat has been bothering me. It’s felt a little clogged and conjested Last night I ate some hot food burned my mouth felt like a lump in my throat almost. I sat next to a heater all day which doesn’t help. But yeah I’ve been having panic attacks every night right now. Not slept too well worrying about covid again or the wife said throat cancer so it’s been awful triggers. But yeah it got worse about 9pm after eating. Do I need to worry? I mentioned before I don’t have a cough temperature or loss of taste.

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