I have a major fear that I will be bit by a bat and not know and end up dying of rabies. So much so that I google where the cases are which doesn’t help at all because obviously there are cases. I am also worried of rabies from roadkill. I worry that whenever I am outside at night anywhere I will be bit and not know. Anyone else have this super specific ocd obsession ?
I am not obsessed with those thoughts but I do think about rabies quite often. Usually if you live in a country with only few cases chances are not so high you will actually be bit but I think people forgot how dangerous rabies really is. It might be the OCD for you but being scared of being bit by a rabid bat at night is actually a valid concern and could be compared to fear of flying though in my opinion a lot more likely. Rabies is that one sickness that I think people should absolutely be worried about when walking around at night, though during the day you just really gotta trust your senses and if you didn't see anything flying near you, you probably weren't bit.
@ehrmantraut But I am worried about having to live my entire life afraid of something that is so rare. I was also at a party outside and had had a few drinks and can’t remember if I saw anything or felt anything
@emh12 What I've learned from OCD is that there is always a deeper reason for why you have that specific obsession. It's usually a result of intense fear that we're trying to ignore. Try to ask yourself, "why am I so afraid of rabies, and why is it this specific disease?" Rabies is known to cause no symptoms until it's to late to treat it. As of now, being rabid equals death, so perhaps a deeper fear of yours is that you're afraid of dying and this is how it manifested. In case this is true, ask yourself, "why does death scare me so much and why does it now and not ... years ago?" It'd be helpful to discuss this with a therapist to find out more about the "why".
@ehrmantraut Yes, it’s definitely true. I just tell myself that hey if I get sick and I die, then it was gonna happen anyways we are obsessed with preventing death and anything that can cause it or even have a slightest chance will create irrational fear. The truth is, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to catch rabies. The odds are seriously like that. Despite never ever seeing a bat in my entire life outside of the zoo or inside my home. the fear is there. But you are right you just have to accept that you are human and you can die in any way shape or form. There is no way to stop it. We are obsessed with preventing that.
@ehrmantraut Its because for people like us, 2-3 people dying in a year from it outa all people is too much, and 100k people things telling you its sooo rare is not enough. We are stuck in that hole.
too*
Yes!!!! last night I laid in bed awake worried that a bat was going to come into my room and bite me while I was asleep, and that I wouldn’t know and I have rabies in a month and die. Everywhere I go if I poke myself or scratch myself or anything my first thought is what if it was a bat, now I have rabies. It is completely irrational, but it is so scary.
So I have harm ocd for sure and I get triggered by some m1rder cases like for some reason my brain gets latched to them and the perpetrators my brain goes ‘what if they’d find you attractive’ ‘would you be one of their victims’ and it feels like they’re watching me, if that makes sense, like they’re watching me, is this a symptom of any type of OCD? Please no judgement I’m super scared and I hate that my brain does this
I’ve been really struggling with obsessing on the though that I somehow got exposed to rabies without my knowledge. I live in an older home and my mind keeps telling me somehow a bat got in without my knowledge, even though I have no reason to believe so. I also own a cat and I’ve also been struggling with what if he got exposed because of this “bat”.
I posted here before but I picked up a kitten like a week ago on the road. The kitten is completely fine health wise and I can’t stop thinking I have rabies. What’s happening right now is I’ll take a drink and since I looked up that ppl with rabies have a hard time drinking I convinced myself I’m having a hard time swallowing and then that makes me panic then when I also read it makes ppl hydrophobic I’m turning that panic of thinking I have rabies into thinking I’m scared of water which furthers my obsession that I have rabies. I told my mom about all this and she told me I definitely do not have rabies just like she told me yesterday and it’s not helping and it won’t help. I’m thinking of doing the rabies shot that you get before you show symptoms in case i haven’t actually showed symptoms yet. I’m so scared I don’t want to die. I keep drinking water to prove to myself that I can swallow it. And the fact that you cant have a definite answer if u have it until you die is rlly rlly rlly freaking me out.
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