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Anxiety/OCD or am I just going crazy?

anxiousguy
Community Member
I have generalised anxiety disorder with obsessive compulsive features. I want to enlighten the beyond blue members about something that has caused me a tremendous amount of anxiety and internal stress this year. Back in April my father painted the kitchen door about midday. About dinner time that night approximately 6pm my cat brushed against the newly painted door and then brushed against my lower leg/feet. I immediately took off my pants and socks and threw them on the ground and got changed. A few days later I checked the socks and pants for paint stains to which I saw no paint stains. Still, I threw out my pants but I kept my socks and put them through the washing machine with other clothes items. I then checked these washed clothes items for paint stains for which there were none. Ever since this I have these images that paint is now on all my clothes that have gone through the washing machine. This is completely irrational thinking but no matter how much I tell myself this these thoughts still plague me. There is this snowballing worrying that I now have to replace all my clothes and it is just really irrational and non sensical. I am currently seeing a psychologist about anxiety (with obsessive compulsive features) but do people think I am maybe starting to go crazy because I sure feel like it. This silly worrying about paint is crazy, I mean surely people put dry paint splattered clothing articles through the washing machine and the paint doesn't budge let alone turn into wet paint affecting the other clothes. So I just don't know what's going on with my brain now. Am I turning delusional or crazy or is this just one of the reasons I am currently getting professional help via medication and counselling for anxiety/OCD?
2 Replies 2

Stephen123
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Hi, I don,t think you have too much to worry about to me this would just be an aspect of OCD that you will probably work on with your counsellor. Just make sure you bring it up at the next session. To me going crazy is thinking your a powerful figure or getting messages from the tv. You thinking that there is still paint just sounds like an OCD kind of thing to me. Hope things work out.

geoff
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

dear Anxiousguy, OCD thoughts are so controlling that they make us feel strange or abnormal, but we aren't, I don't feel peculiar, I, like you have an illness and with this becomes thoughts that we have to do to continue on with our lives.

These thoughts about the paint are no different than someone who has to wash their hands twenty times a day, or myself who has to touch something four times, but in fact I could touch it more than four, but as long as I can count to four, then it satisfies me.

These irrational thoughts may seem to be abnormal to those who don't have OCD, but when you think about this everybody has to do their problem solving, purchasing goods, washing their car their own way, so what this means is that they too might be queried about how they do it by other people, so it's no different, except that with OCD it's much more prominent and controlling.

Besides the paint may have been acrylic or water based which means that if washed all the paint would have been washed away.

If you worry then I will have to add another habit to conquer this. lol Geoff.