Need encouragement - feeling scared/ anxious

[cooperhawk]

I am feeling scared right now. I do get nervous and worried when people I know are sick. I'm scared of germs and getting sick. I'm scared of my family (spouse and kids) getting sick. My neighbor's kid is sick and I'm not sure what they have, so my mind races. We live in close proximity (apartment building), so we share spaces. I think about all the possible surfaces that could be contaminated and how I may have already touched them and brought them into my home. Part of me doesn't want to leave my home and expose myself. My mind runs wild and I make myself feel unwell from being nervous and I can't sleep (like right now). I hate feeling this way and letting my fear win, but can't shake it. Sometimes I want to just run away and hide, but I want to be brave and change my thinking. It's just hard, when no one around me (physically) understands my mental anguish.

[Gavriel]

I have. B been struggling with ocd since childhood, so I do understand. Stay active and look to the future. The worst time. f

Our r u

[aparente001]

You might want to look at the more recent research that shows that COVID is rarely spread from surfaces, and that brief encounters, when properly protected, brings a much smaller chance of transmission than longer encounters. You may wish to buy a face shield to use in addition to a mask or double mask.

Perhaps your doctor can prescribe something to help with insomnia. My son has found Zaleplon helpful, and it has a very short half-life. I mention this one in case you'd like to ask your doctor their opinion.

Are you in treatment with someone trained in the Exposure Response Prevention approach? ERP is what has shown the best results in many studies.

Many people with OCD find it helpful to combine ERP with a high dose of SSRI. Would you like to ask your doctor about this option?

Regards.

[SirUthal]

You are in an OCD rumination cycle. You have to remove yourself from it. I have learned to do this by recognizing when it is happening and consciously exiting it. I tell myself that OCD rumination is not allowed and that I will not engage in it. This works for me, but it takes practice to disengage and doesn’t always work when the OCD is really bad.

Health related OCD can be tough. There are discussions about diseases and sicknesses on the tv, on social media, at the coffee machine, and so many other places. There are triggers everywhere. This makes your fear center fire like a machine gun as the triggers overload you and cause you this distress.

Find a therapist and a psychiatrist if you haven’t already. A medicine called Celexa worked well for my mom, and she has the same family of OCD that you do. The severity of her symptoms were pretty high also.

Last thing is to try to keep your mind centered on the reality of the situation, but don’t ruminate on it. Thinking “I may or may not get sick, but that is part of being human” and “I may or may not get my family sick, but that is just part of being human” could help you break the thought cycle. Take care!