Are these things likely to be a risk to me?

[imterrified]

I’ve got contamination OCD and been threatened with inpatient admission if I don’t calm down . Been medicated quite heavily with anti depressants and diazepam and told they’re urgently speaking to psych to see if I can have more eg antipsychotics or something . Told to try and rationalise things but I can ‘see’ bugs everywhere on everything . Apparently my ‘list’ of things I’m avoiding isn’t correct but I’m not sure ?

Currently avoiding - handling food packaging, door handles (internal and outside), anything outdoors at all, tap water, shower water, the post, anything that’s touched outside so shoes, coats, the outdoor bins . Also all animals including my cat . I’m avoiding most food and if food touches anything other than my fork I panic ... I’m also avoiding food and drink that needs to be eaten from the pack eg bottled juice or canned food .

I’ve been washing my hands in detergent - which I know isn’t good as they’re now burnt ..: and spraying as much as I can . But now not sure if I should also be boil washing clothes, shower curtain, towels; cleaning the carpets and the rugs etc .

Mental health worker said to stop - completely - and self isolate for two weeks and try to calm down , easier said than done really .

Apart from door handles, none of those things are a risk.

Don't boil wash anything

I have OCD and it's really hard at the moment.

You sound so anxious but none of those things need doing except, as pp said, door handles. Wash your hands with soap when you come in the house, after the toilet and before eating. Other than that you're fine.

Be kind to yourself and get help if you can. Xx

I've been looking a lot of this up recently..so i'll be honest here.

-Clothes, if you are worried about contamination, should be washed at 60%, tumble drying if possible and ironing also helps.
-Food packaging is a possible source,( i say possible, theyre not 100%),they say wash with water and soap.
-Door handles touched by others, wipe with sanitizer.
-Outdoor bins, if handled by the bin men, wipe the handles.
-Post, again possible source, so handle with disposable gloves, or wash hands after opening, and don't put your letters on a food prep area.

Everything else, the cat, curtains, tap water, shower water, shoes etc are fine, as they're not in contact with nose eyes mouth or hands.
As long as you're ok, and wash hands regularly, you only need to worry about things other people have touched (contact points)

HTH

Do you live alone? If so, I think the kindest thing you can do for yourself would be to self-isolate. Then, you are in control, and you can limit the amount you need to clean/wash your hands.

As others have said, most of those things you've mentioned don't pose a risk. The virus doesn't survive outside for long, there is no indication it can be transmitted by water, and anyway the chlorine in tap water will kill it.

Re: food, stomach acid also kills it so ingesting it is fine.

Textiles can just be washed as normal, but I would suggest changing when you get home if you've been somewhere with other people.

Hang in there OP

We are self isolating yeah, I’m not letting anyone past the front door if I can . I’m wondering if now that we are doing that if I can slowly reduce the amount of incessant hand washing I’m doing (50-100 times a day just now) .

I just panicked with the Tesco man turning up the other day and knowing my groceries were in boxes that other people’s food had been in too and then thinking, if they touched the boxes ... and all the others who handled my food first before it was even taken to us by Tesco ... and then that contamination is in the fridge and freezer ... it’s hell .

I’m hoping we can go for a walk soon , to the beach or something - I’m desperate to but I’m scared I’ll get the virus on my shoes and then transmit it to myself via the house .

I’ve got a lot of support - my own GP phoning weekly, mental health team phoning every Monday, OCD U.K have been in touch, my other friend is a GP and she’s emailing regularly and trying to explain things eg how they’re handling this at GP level ... it’s all just so scary . She said this morning (GP friend) that we will be OK again but I can’t believe that just now .