Rabies fear - again!

[aleksa]

Hello there! I think i need your help. I'm 22 and two years ago I suffered from a terrible breakdown during my summer vacation. I've convinced myself that I have rabies and that I got it in the most unlikely way. (If i wanted to describe every situation that had led me to believe that I will die an agonizing death - then this post would never end :D) No contact, only highly unlikely chain of bizzare events.
I retured home early, finally went to see psychiatrist and gone through a terapy. I was taking sertraline for about a year.

And now, I’m supposed to have a good time, relax before an exam in october. And on the first day it happend again! And now THE STORY:

I’ve got some wellingtons in my basement, I wore them while going on a boat trip, on a bare feet cause its summer. Everyting was fine, and then a panic attack exploded in my head: WHAT IF? What if there was a bat in my basement, and that it got into the shoes, and he left a bit of saliva on them, and now i’ve got them on me, close to my bare skin, and maybe I’ve got some scratches that I cannot see… I will die, It will be my fault, I don’t know when it will happen. Maybe in a month, maybe in a year. When im writing it right now - it’s so stupid… But a moment later - it’s a serious life threat.

To be honest. What i really am afraid of - is anxiety. Two years ago it almost destroyed my life. I don’t want to go through it again. I don’t want to take madicine again. I just want to RELAX!
(PS. sory for my English, i’m really trying to sound convincing, but its not my native language…)

[Munchlet]

Hi

I've had a massive Rabies fear a couple of times, one of the times my fear was similar to yours, I worried that a bat had dripped some saliva on me from a cave I was in and it had gotten into my eyes or something without me noticing.

If you look back on my previous posts you'll see how irrational my posts were at the time.

In your case I don't think you need to worry, The Rabies virus isn't particularly strong and it dies within seconds in the air, so even in a bat had been hiding in your boots (which it hasn't) and even if you did have a cut and there was some saliva by the time it got in the virus would be dead.

But you know that this hasn't happened it's just your HA playing tricks on you, please don't worry about this, I spent ages fretting over things that couldn't possibly of happened.

[aleksa]

Thanks for a reply! Of course I've read every post on rabies here and on couple different sites that I know from my previous 'attack'. But still, the tricky bit is I always believe that THIS time it's for real. That my case is the one that will come true.
I've got this crazy health anxiety for as long as I can remember. But the 'fear of rabies' is a ultimate enemy for me. Once I've got this idea in my head, there is no way of getting it out. It's really scary to think that it will always be present in my life from now on...

[Fishmanpa]

The thing with some of the rabies fear threads is that the scenarios are so far fetched that even George Lucas couldn't write a more convoluted sci fi screen play :D The plot twists that would have to happen to make it believable are just too far fetched.

I understand you fear feels legitimate but the reality is that it's just not a possibility.

Positive thoughts


Just as an addition.... My dad's dog (which is a basket case!) bit me last weekend. He broke the skin and left a large bruise on my leg. The dog had it's shots so I cleaned the wound and that was it. I'm fine. It just hurt a bit is all. The point is, even at that, I'm Ok. Put that against an imaginary bat's dried saliva or a cat that bit someone else, and you see my point.

[aleksa]

Hello again. just a quick post about my rabies obsession.
When I stop worring about myself - i immediately start to think that my family members are in danger of contracting rabies. You see - they’re normal people, they wouldn’t even think about it! There are some cats in our garden, and my grandma is taking care of them - feedeing them, letting them stay in the basement during winter. But still, those cats are rather 'wild’ ones. They are staying here for about 2 or 3 years, but are still kind of shy. Of course i’m not touching them :D but my grandma thinks that my rabies obsession is so out of place, she’s petting them, touching them, giving them food, touching the bowls that they’ve eaten from etc. In Poland rabies is still present, but rather in the fox population, last case of human rabies was in the year 2000 when a woman was bit by her unvaccinated cat. And yes ‚our’ cats are also unvacinated. It’s driving me crazy. Maybe I’m safe, but what if one day, my family members will be in danger? They wouldn’t listen to me - I’m crazy! I cannot control what they are doing during the day, the way I’m controling my actions. Two years ago it was the same - first worried crazy about myself, then about everybody else… please just a short reply, just a litte advice or your point of view. I would really appreciate it