So my health/contamination OCD has been really bad lately, and I’ve realised that I’m not only afraid of physical illness (cancer, kidney stones, heart attacks, etc...) but I’m also afraid of getting other mental health disorders too, and I thought that I was the only one that done so but it turns out that I’m not? A lot of my health/contamination OCD comes from what I’ve seen other people go through in the past: I’m constantly checking for pains around my kidney area, whenever I get a chest pain I check for signs of a heart attack, and so on. But I’ve realised that my brain latches onto other people’s mental health disorders too and tries to convince me that I have them, or that I should have them. More specifically, because of thing I’ve seen others experience in the past (I won’t go into detail because it’s personal), I’m so afraid of schizophrenia. Not as a mental illness itself but the thought that I will get it/I will have it. I always hate saying this because I know it sounds incredibly selfish and absurd, but once I know a lot about an illness (physical or mental), my brain will just latch onto it and try to convince me that I have it, and when I tell myself that I don’t, my brain will THEN say that being “psychosomatic” is a thing and that if I think about it too much then I will get it. My brain will take all the symptoms of this one illness and analyse it, making everything I experience an entire clusterf*ck of “it could be x” or “what if it’s y?” or “what if you were experiencing z right now?” I think what I’d like to hear is other people’s experiences who relate to what I say, especially the “afraid of getting other mental health disorders” side of things, because I never really come across others who do the same thing. Thank you!!

I have health OCD as well. I am mainly terrified of sustaining any type of lower body injury. I developed hip problems my junior year of college... and after going to SO many different types of specialists... I received a diagnosis 3 years later and had to have 2 surgeries. I am so terrified of any other lower body illness and I think about it constantly. My older sister said that I “look like I am trying not to step on legos” when I walk around the house because I walk so carefully and obsess over every step I take and how my foot hits the floor. It’s crazy because if I have any other issue aside from lower body... it’s almost as if I don’t even care. The idea of any other health issue almost sounds GOOD as long as it doesn’t impact my ability to use my lower body. I have experience some issues with being terrified of having another mental illness as well. If someone posts on social media or is talking about either mental illness or a lower body injury, I ignore them like the plague. Even thinking about their name makes me cringe. It’s as if I’m afraid to “catch” it. I know it sounds horrible as well... but I’m especially afraid of depression and schizophrenia.

I am the same exact way, with almost all of the same exact fears and compulsions. One of my grandmothers died of breast cancer so I am constantly checking for lumps, one of my grandmothers died of pancreatic cancer so if I feel any twinge of pain in my abdomen I’m convinced I have it, and many other relatives have died from other types of cancer. Also, if I hear of someone else getting sick/dying from something, I start googling it and am convinced I have it, or could get it soon, too. With the schizophrenia thing, I also am so worried I am going to start hallucinating or hearing voices, or that I will lose control.

I am really new to this app so this is the first time I’ve commented to someone! I was looking through and read your post; I suffer with the same OCD tendencies relating to health conditions. I was 18 and diagnosed with a benign tumour in my eye, ever since when I feel unwell or have pain or my heart races I spend all day checking my pulse ect making sure it’s ok! I’m also studying to me a nurse so knowing physical illnesses like I do doesn’t help the situation! Have you been recommended anything to help? I am due to see a doctor tomorrow regarding this as it’s now starting to take over every day! ? hope you feel better soon x

And to add on, I thought that being afraid of this certain mental health disorder came from too much of a personal experience which is why I thought I was alone. But after seeing a comment by someone else who had said the same thing, I was really taken back and surprised; relieved too