Thread
maddy77
8d ago
  • Contamination OCD

I’ve been having this anxiety for a good couple months, before COVID-19 I never had contamination ocd or really worried of getting sick but since covid started I began to have anxiety of getting it and it just progressively got worse as the time when on I am cautious and use wipes when I touch things like doors and stuff and wear a mask, and I’m also vaccinated but if I get a stuffed nose or I will have a panic attack and not know it so my chest will tighten I will think it’s covid and I will begin to have shortness of breath. This has been an pretty much everyday occurrence and it’s so hard to get away from it when you see it on tv, phone, and apps. I just don’t know what to do it’s really stressful… I would love to hear advice from anyone or even similar situations I would greatly appreciate it!

Lms526
8d ago
I went through this too when COVID first stated. I didn't know I had OCD then. I've always been obsessive about using hand sanitizer. When I worked as a cashier I couldn't start work until I made sure I had a bottle of hand sanitizer by my register. I would have people sneeze and then hand me their money. I would have kids (and adults) cough right in my face and the bathrooms were just disgusting. This was all pre-Covid. After COVID, I found myself spraying things like door knobs and light switches with Lysol spray or wipes. One of the reasons I didn't know I had OCD was because I thought it was just handwashing and liking things very neat and organized. But with COVID, I did do the handwashing thing for awhile. I washed to hands numerous times a day. To the point where they got cracked, red, and very sore. I would also avoid people in the hallway of my apartment complex. If there was someone else coming in or going out the same time I was, I would panic.
Lms526
8d ago
Wearing a mask was very hard for me. I constantly thought and felt like I was suffocating. There were quite a few times when I became very lightheaded and dizzy because I was htlypwrventilating under my mask.