Rabies ocd

@moon826 I barely found out about rabies a month ago because I stumbled across videos on tik tok and it made me spiral :( I keep having false exposures in my head and I overthink every scratch and mark on my body. It’s been terrible . Did u ever overcome it?

@Anonymous I found out about rabies about a year ago, through tiktok too😞. I also relate to what you said about false exposures and overthinking every scratch I got because I was the exact same way. It felt like rabies was all I could think about and I did research about it constantly (I think I researched compulsively) but it helped me deal with the fear a bit more. The last rabies fear I had was on Halloween when I was outside at night and I had somehow convinced myself that I got bitten by a bat. I didn’t remember seeing any though but I couldn’t shake the feeling. The people I was with at the time told me they didn’t see any bats, so I had to sit with the uncertainty of not really knowing what happened. It was soooo difficult ☹️ but somehow my mind slowly stopped worrying about it. I think I’ve overcame my fear ever since then. I’m really sorry you’re struggling with this :( Please remember you’re not alone in this and feel free to reach out

@moon826 Omgg the same thing happened to me. I went outside and came back in and felt a weird feeling on my neck. I looked around but didn’t see anything and my brother told me he never did either. I did notice I had scratches on me and I’m convinced they are from a bat but I went to the doctors and she said they look like they are from me. It’s been almost a month the feeling comes and go but sometimes I just break down because I believed it happened. My family told me I would have had symptoms by now but I have read so many things online where it can take months :( I feel so much better that someone else can relate to me and has a similar story. I’ve been crying so much and convinced I have it

@moon826 I have spent hours a day researching it stories and cases and going on Reddit. The more I read the cases it kinda helps because those people were for sure that they got bit they had evidence. They actually saw a bat. I don’t think I would be so scared if the fatality rate was 100%. When it first happened I wanted to go to the hospital and tell them I for super was exposed so I could get the vaccine 😭😭

@Anonymous Wow I relate, I had to go to the doctors before too because something like that happened to me :( When I went there, the doctor told me how low the risk was, especially if I hadn’t seen any bats. The reassurance they gave me helped for a while, but my mind kept thinking “What if?” I also did so much research on reddit too, but most people that were on there who worried about rabies had OCD, and weren’t actually exposed to it. My handwashing got really bad and I was afraid to go for walks, or even be outside. I even thought about getting vaccinated “just to be safe” It totally is a difficult thing to deal with😞

@moon826 Dude I’m so scared to go on walks outside so scared I just won’t do it. Especially at night. I hope I can overcome this. It drives me crazy I wasn’t able to get the vaccine I was bawling telling my family I needed it.

@moon826 I had to get off Reddit a little because I know there is a lot of misinformation on there like saying u wouldn’t feel it and it can take years to come up. Which doctors said it usually takes days- weeks. I keep trying not to ask for reassurance of the night I’m thinking about.it doesn’t help I’ve had nightmares about it too. I get scared to go out because anytime I feel a pinch I think it’s that. The thing is I know it’s so rare but my mind thinks what if it’s me.

@Anonymous Getting off of reddit is a really good start! I still struggle with doing compulsions on there but I’m also trying to limit how much time I spend on it. There is a bunch of misinformation on reddit sadly so it’s best to trust doctors, which was hard for me to do. I think one of the best things to do is try to avoid compulsions as best as you can. It can get really difficult to do especially at first, but with more practice the OCD gets quieter.

@moon826 100% I also deleted tik tok. I could not stop watching videos on it. I wish I could trust my doctor who said these are scratches from me I just think the worst :( . I had to delete google and safari off my phone lol because I would not stop searching about it which my therapist told me not to it’s just hard .

@Anonymous Yeah I’ve had to delete a lot of apps due to my OCD especially tiktok. I don’t know why tiktok makes my OCD so much worse but it just does lol. But anyway, I totally get why it’s hard to trust some things. I still really have a hard time trusting reassurance, even from my therapist! But I try to remind myself that OCD is not reality and sometimes I have to accept uncertainty, even though it’s super uncomfortable :(

@moon826 Same if I’m being honest tik tok has created all of my “ themes” every single fear I’ve had is from that. The only app I guess that doesn’t bother me is Instagram because u can kinda control the algorithm. I guess that’s what I can’t do I know in my head what happened but I believe my ocd over the reality. Even though I’ve had so many people tell me it’s in my head I’m okay. Every day I wake up spiraling and scared. I’m sick rn too so it doesn’t help:(

@Anonymous I hope you feel better soon!!! But yeah tiktok has triggered a bunch of my themes too, I’ve been pretty avoidant of social media in general for a while because it felt like everytime I would be on an app, something would show up and make me spiral. I do try my best not to get caught up in my thoughts, but sometimes it gets really overwhelming 💔

@moon826 Thank u! I appreciate it :) same I tend to delete the apps a lot and take breaks sometimes it’s too much. I hope ur doing okay as well it made me feel better knowing u had a similar experience and u got through it. Our stories are so similar so it definitely made me feel less calm. I’m almost a month down from that event so yay

@Anonymous More Calm^^ lol not less calm

@Anonymous Of course! Yeah our stories are really similar lol it’s kind of cool to realise that we’re not alone in this. But thats awesome that its been a month already, I hope things will soon improve for you :D