This morning while i was eating cereal my cat approached me as always, as i usually give her bits of milk for herself (very small amount, and she doesnt get to drink milk often) but today a thought suddenly popped up that said "what if my cat has rabies and i just dont know" and it made me so paranoid i denied her milk. I can see that it is irrational but it scared me so much, sorry michi.
hey, i totally get how those random, scary thoughts can just pop up and throw your whole vibe off, especially when it’s about something or someone you care about. it sounds really tough, but you're not alone in dealing with thoughts like these. 🐾 i'm dealing with a totally different ocd theme myself, but i've found some tools that kinda help me manage better. speaking of tools, there's this app called "unstuck ocd therapy tools" that my local ocd support group recommended. it's pretty cool because it gives you ai-personalized guidance and exercises right when you need them, which might help when those unexpected thoughts hit. another one i've tried is the "gg ocd" app. it's all about learning the basics of cbt for ocd through small modules. it's not as personalized and doesn't offer in-the-moment support, but it's a good start if you're looking to understand more about how cbt works. 📱 hope this helps a bit, and give michi some extra love from me. you're doing your best, and that’s really all we can do.
You can go back and feed your cat and only observe the intrusive thoughts when it comes without reacting to it. It might be hard in the beginning but anxiety will go away gradually. I had a similar experience with my cats when I thought they might bring toxoplasmosid to my pregnant wife. I decided only to watch that thought and not try to disprove it, nontheless i did not put barriers for the cats from sleepinv with us eetc. OCD gets bored and leaves if you dont empower it.
Thank you for this, these kind of thought are some of the ones that hurt me the most bc they end up affecting someone (in this case my cat) that doesnt know a thing. Ill try to do as you say and ignore it, tho it will be hard
@leafwaves I learned that I can never get better until i face my intrusive thoughts. Face it. Feed the cat. Cuddle with it. Keep trying even if it takes many attempts. Some therapists start easy but only touching the cat then petting it then little by little increase the exposure. Some get to hard bussiness right away. See what fits you. Talk to your therapist.
This morning I had the realisation I might have fallen asleep on a random stray kitten that snuck into my house, obviously I can’t find it anywhere in my house nor can I find any bodies of a dead hurt kitten anywhere home neither did my family, but each of these scenarios can be explained by either the kitten leaving my house in agony and dying outside or my family just lying about finding one as to not hurt my feeling. How does one go aout such unverifiable thoughts, how can I know I didn’t fell asleep on a kitten when I can’t really feel it on a soft bed when under me? Or that it might have jumped on my bed last second when I’m laying on it after I checked there was nothing on it? I know it’s unlikely but I can’t keep living like that... I spend several hours not sleeping yesterday night vecause I kept checking under me while in bed never being satisfied and sure I haven’t falle asleep on a cat and just forced myself to fall asleep regardless but I feel guilty now...
My beloved cat of 6 years is extremely sick, i adopted him when i was in the army and hes always helped me get through my PTSD. After about 1K in vet bills the vet said he likely will not survive this week, and i should consider euthanasia as its most likely advanced pneumonia or heart disease. Hes a indoor only cat and when i was trying to feed him his tooth scratched me and i got a tiny cut. Now my OCD is trying to convince me i somehow got rabies on top of it already going crazy and mourning my cat even though hes still fighting and not yet gone. I feel awful that now im scared to continue caring for him because now im scared of being near him
I recently saw a tiktok about rabies and now I can't stop thinking about it. I'm so scared a bat bit me and I didn't notice and now I have rabies. I haven't seen a bat in a long time and in my country there hasn't been a case since 2018. But I'm so scared what if I have it or what if I get it. What if I wake up tomorrow and I have hydrophobia(one of the symptoms). I can't stop thinking about this:(
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