OCD about rabies

[lonelygirl91]

Do OCD themes come randomly. I have a fear that I've contracted rabies from my holiday. I'm very aware of rabies and avoided contact with any cats. I love cats but won't touch stray cats especially abroad. I went to Israel and had a great time. I didn't touch any cats though I looked at some I thought were cute. I kept a distance. There was one cat who I stopped to admire. He was friendly and walked between legs. I'm scared what if it bit me but I didn't realize? My friend said that I would have noticed if he had bit me. 

I've checked the Israel rabies statistics. There were 12 cases this year, one in a cat further away near the Syrian border. I stayed in Tel Aviv so it was around 150km away from the rabies case in that cat. 

I still can't help but worry what if the cat had rabies and it bit me but I didn't realize. It brushed between my legs. I've heard that friendliness in animals can be a sign of rabies. I've seen a lot of friendly strays in Israel and other holidays. A lot of them although are stray are looked after by people and fed. 

I keep thinking what if this cat his rabies but it wasn't detected. I feel unwell and I keep thinking what if I've got rabies. I came back from Israel three weeks ago. 

[PolarBear]

You are way overthinking this. Typical OCD. If I saw a stray cat the last thing I'd think about is rabies. It's an obsession. Treat it as one. Watch your ruminating and stay away from Google.

[lonelygirl91]

Thank you for your reply Polar bear. I'm so sick of living like this, living in fear of everything. This is no life. I feel whenever life is going well, something will take away my happiness such as cancer or a rare disease. It stems from my childhood. My brother was born with an extremely rare brain tumor and I always think, bad and rare things can happen to me.

[James M]

Don’t beat yourself up, have you tried any therapy ? Sometimes what helps for me is thinking would others might think on similar scenarios as it can put some logical perspective to situations. Also, I now try focusing on the here and now. I appreciate it’s not easy and it’s taken me years to figure out, but now that I have I can manage and feel better about the future. Hope you have a pleasant day