AnxiousAnne
10-02-16, 18:22
Hi I'm new to this forum so please bear with me. I wrote a long post about my problems and somehow have managed to lose it so I will try to keep it short this time.
I am a mummy to a 20 month old son and 6 months pregnant with number 2. I have always been a 'worrier' and think I have health anxiety and possibly generalised anxiety. I have episodes which come and go and I can usually manage to get myself out of the anxiety grip, but not this time.
My current issue is regarding asbestos and possibly having exposed my son to something which could shorten his life. We are updating our house which was built in 86 and every ceiling has textured coating or artex. I got so worked up I had a company come out and test 3 ceilings, which came back negative for asbestos. My fears then shifted and I called them out again to test other materials in the house as we were renovating our bathroom. These too came back negative. I was calling the company often and they suggested it would be better for them to carry out a management survey to help put my mind at rest and identify all visible ACMs. We thought this seemed sensible as we had other work to do and went ahead with this.
Good news, the survey came back as no asbestos found in our house. Most people would have been happy with that, and I was for a couple of weeks until we had a plasterer in to skim a ceiling and he scrapped the artex. No protective equipment, no questions to see if we had it tested, didn't even close the door to the room so the dust and fragments were everywhere! My problem is that ceiling wasn't sampled as part of the survey but referenced to the kitchen ceiling next door which was sampled, and clear, as it looked like the same material (same pattern etc, believed to be applied at time of construction). I now can't get this out of my head and feel like my entire house is contaminated, I've spread it through hoovering, and exposed my son to a deadly carcinogenic material! I do think that these are irrational thoughts as my husband isn't concerned and feels happy with the survey results.
I'm currently doing an online CBT course and I'm at the stage of trying to challenge my thoughts by looking at any evidence for or against (the survey report!) But I can't seem to crack this one. I'm also due to start counseling next week, and hoping that the pregnancy hormones are making this worse as I don't think I can live like this!
Not sure what I'm after, just wanted to put my fears down in writing. Also sorry it's not as short as I'd hoped!
I am a mummy to a 20 month old son and 6 months pregnant with number 2. I have always been a 'worrier' and think I have health anxiety and possibly generalised anxiety. I have episodes which come and go and I can usually manage to get myself out of the anxiety grip, but not this time.
My current issue is regarding asbestos and possibly having exposed my son to something which could shorten his life. We are updating our house which was built in 86 and every ceiling has textured coating or artex. I got so worked up I had a company come out and test 3 ceilings, which came back negative for asbestos. My fears then shifted and I called them out again to test other materials in the house as we were renovating our bathroom. These too came back negative. I was calling the company often and they suggested it would be better for them to carry out a management survey to help put my mind at rest and identify all visible ACMs. We thought this seemed sensible as we had other work to do and went ahead with this.
Good news, the survey came back as no asbestos found in our house. Most people would have been happy with that, and I was for a couple of weeks until we had a plasterer in to skim a ceiling and he scrapped the artex. No protective equipment, no questions to see if we had it tested, didn't even close the door to the room so the dust and fragments were everywhere! My problem is that ceiling wasn't sampled as part of the survey but referenced to the kitchen ceiling next door which was sampled, and clear, as it looked like the same material (same pattern etc, believed to be applied at time of construction). I now can't get this out of my head and feel like my entire house is contaminated, I've spread it through hoovering, and exposed my son to a deadly carcinogenic material! I do think that these are irrational thoughts as my husband isn't concerned and feels happy with the survey results.
I'm currently doing an online CBT course and I'm at the stage of trying to challenge my thoughts by looking at any evidence for or against (the survey report!) But I can't seem to crack this one. I'm also due to start counseling next week, and hoping that the pregnancy hormones are making this worse as I don't think I can live like this!
Not sure what I'm after, just wanted to put my fears down in writing. Also sorry it's not as short as I'd hoped!