A Fear of asbestos

[waxxyx]

Hi
I have a fear of asbestos. I have an office job and I have worked in a couple of old buildings which contain asbestos. I keep thinking I would be over this by now, had i not prodded and probed a ceiling panel in the gents toilet and a wall panel in one of the offices to see if it was made of asbestos. I suppose I did this to put my mind at rest, heaven knows how it would do that as I wouldnt be able to tell the difference. Now I just feel like ive exposed myself and cant shake the feeling.

I've been going through this for six months and this is one phobia i cant seem to shake. Help.....

[nomorepanic]

Asbestos was removed from all office buildings a long long time ago though so there won't be any now.

[waxxyx]

Thats actually not strictly true. Much of it was left in place because of the cost implications. now everywhere I go I seem to see look for it, when I never did before and I seem to see what could possibly be asbestos, when i did not before... strange that... maybe im just looking for it now

[nomorepanic]

Well you are in your rights to refuse to work in a building where it is so do that.

[Meewah]

I disagree. Lots of buildings have asbestos that is safe unless it is badly disturbed. You do not have any rights to refuse to work in a building that contains asbestos unless it is causing a risk to employees.

I just keep thinking how many times we have been exposed to it before all this publicity. I remember moving a load of Roofing material made from asbestos from one industrial unit to another and sneezing at the dust. What may happen in my future is anyone's guess. The problem is I wont lose sleep over it as we are all Guinea pigs in some form or another.

Mee

[waxxyx]

Meewah thats my point. Im fed up of losing sleep over this, im pretty sure i havent disturbed the stuff but as always with most anxieties, i suppose its never shaking that "what if" voice in my head. I didn't start the post for reassurance as thats not helpful, simply to see if anyone else is going through the same thing or if anyone has any helpful advice.

Im changing the way i think... i cant keep thinking "what ifs", i dont know whats going to happen in the future and their are people much worst off.

[AnxiousAnnie18]

My brother works as a plasterer and he is oxposed to it due to his job... it's horrible, but because of this I do know that asbestos is only halmful when your constantly exposed for years breathing it in and touching it etc. I know that it's hard to think rationally though when you have phobias, believe me I know! What I tend to do is do a for and against in a bid to stop worrying, it does help but I know with phobias it's not that simple! Have you tried CBT? You might benefit from it or atleast learn some tools to take away most of the worry?

[waxxyx]

My brother works as a plasterer and he is oxposed to it due to his job... it's horrible, but because of this I do know that asbestos is only halmful when your constantly exposed for years breathing it in and touching it etc. I know that it's hard to think rationally though when you have phobias, believe me I know! What I tend to do is do a for and against in a bid to stop worrying, it does help but I know with phobias it's not that simple! Have you tried CBT? You might benefit from it or atleast learn some tools to take away most of the worry?

Hi Annie. I haven't tried cbt and from what i understand there's usually a long waiting list. I've been getting my thoughts together recently but the phobia is still there at the back of my mind. I think that if it isn't this phobia, then it most likely would be something else so i try to get my thoughts straight in that way. Thanks so much for your post, talking on here helps me a lot

[ajones473@yahoo.com]

Last year I had some work done at my flat, & one of the contractors told me that most buildings of this age (built in 1960) have asbestos in them. Now I`m worried that I might be affected by it, & I`m wondering is it safe?

[Annie0904]

As others have said it is safe unless disturbed and you would have to have been around it and breathed in quite a lot to become affected by it. My husband worked on building sites in the 60's and 70's and worked a lot with asbestos. He now has asbestos around his lung but the doctors have said that they don't expect it to cause him any problems. So I wouldn't worry about it.