I often have lots of health related OCD issues, and because of COVID-19 everything has gotten so much worse. I had to go to a dr appt and now I have to check my oxygen levels and temperature 50 times before I feel they’re accurate. So worried I caught the disease and have to repeat things constantly to calm down. Any tips on interrupting these thoughts? I feel like I’m constantly drowning in panic.

I have this issue too. My whole ocd is around covid 19, and secondarily, I dont want anyone getting sick because I dont want to fear its covid and I dont want people having to go to the hospital. Funny enough, I'M the one who now has issues. I developed swollen glands in april that haven't gone away and have had to go for tests and imaging. Now we've found a mass growing on my thyroid and I have to go to the hospital here and there. Ironic eh? Anyway, I had to go.to emergency about a month ago and was petrified. The er doctor told me people with covid go in the ER all the time and I even heard someone down the hallway coughing up a storm. I was fine. This past week I had to go have a camera stuck down my nose and throat which is right where covid would love to live if it was on that camera. I'm scared. But my past experiences are telling me to trust the health care system. When I was at the ER, a nurse told me she had her 80 year old mother come into the er for something and felt very comfortable doing that. She said its safer than going grocery shopping. When I first saw my doctor in May for this, he made me get in and out. He did the first part of the appointment over the phone and then called me in to do the physical exam then told me "in and out, in and out, go now". Doctors are very safe. Trust me, I have every thought in the book. I'm scared of going into the doctors office and having to take my mask off, sitting right in the same place someone sneezed or coughed (sitting in their breath cloud). And although its unnerving, I've been fine every time. I have to trust this time having gone to the hospital on thursday I will also be okay. It's important to do these things and treat them like ERP. When I told my husband I didnt want to go to any of these appointments, he told me the real threat of the health issue km going through right now is more of an issue than potential covid. One thing I'm really clinging to right now is "CDC guidelines and nothing more". We have to listen to the experts and not read news sites or social media fear mongering.

If it helps the doctors are the ones taking things super cautious and it’s likely the cleanest place to be in public at the moment. Also, I went to doctor a little over 2 weeks ago and had to do a test where you breath in and out of a machine others also used. I get your anxiety. I practiced mindfulness when I got super upset over it and distracted myself with games and hobbies when the obsessesions started.