Somethings in my attic and I’m freaking out!!!

[DandyPinkDuck]

There’s something living in my attic and I’m freaking out, this whole situation is making my mental health even worse, I’m so anxious I can’t leave my room and haven’t eaten all day as I’m scared I’ll find something running around I’m extremely on edge 😔 I live by myself in a semi detached house in a semi-rural area.

Sunday around 2am I heard a noise outside my bedroom window (I have a conservatory below my window) it literally sounded like someone was trying to break in or open the window, was rather loud and I freaked out. Calmed myself down and thought maybe it was a cat outside my window on the conservatory roof….I was wrong…today (Monday) this time at 12:30am I could hear noise above me in the attic which was definitely in the attic as was rather loud, sounded like something crawling/running pretty fast as well as scratching, lasted about 10minutes and then went silent and not heard anything as of yet. Best way I can describe it is it was like a kitten that’s energetically running around and clawing things. I assume whatever it is climbed onto the conservatory and at first tried to find a way into my bedroom around the window which failed, I'm praying it failed, and then settled to the attic instead.

I called my landlord as I rent a council property and they said someone will contact me in 2-5 working days and I can’t afford to go private but I’m loosing my mind I’ve genuinely had anxiety attacks on/off all of today as I’m really stressed and scared to death that I’m gonna see something big and grey (don’t want to mention it) running around I honestly cannot relax and as mentioned I’ve not eaten because of it… may sound silly to some but my mental health is really bad and this situation has made it worse. The fact I heard it trying to get into my room near the window makes me terrified they may come into my room or already be here somewhere I’m having to constantly scan my room every few minutes to check (it’s triggering my OCD symptoms).

I know it’s not something sitting on the roof and doubt it’s a bird as when it was moving it was really fast. There’s no way I can put traps around or go into the attack, as you can tell I’m already distressed just knowing somethings there. I feel like I’m a complete mess and I’m dreading tonight as I know I’m bound to hear it again I’m really anxious this time I’ll hear it in my actual room or trying to get in again. I couldn’t even pluck the courage to look outside my window onto the top of the conservatory this morning in case I saw something.

Should I call the landlord again tomorrow to explain how I suffer with mental health and it’s really effecting me to hopefully see if anyone can come sooner?

Any reassurance would be great right now as I’m very panicky, already searched what the chances are of a pest in the attic coming into the actual house and regret searching it…any reassurance on that would be great or just to hear peoples experiences.

Poison causes agonizing pain and death. Please use a humane trap. They aren’t really doing anything to harm you.

@Doone22
clearly you’ve never experienced the suffering of mental health and thank god you haven’t. Many mental illnesses are overlooked as they’re not a physical disability and just because I’m too scared to get rid of a pest how on earth does that make me useless it’s not really to do with mental health as a lot of people would feel scared especially when you live alone…you clearly have no education regarding mental health as how are you telling a person who suffers with it “do you want to be useless at everything forever” as if that’s going to motivate me and better my mental state and to tell me to get self respect are you actually okay?

You have no idea of my situation and how my mental health stops me maintaining hygiene, eating, getting out the house, working…doing the basic things people do in life to the point I’m now in the process of getting a carer…you saying you “can’t work out how it stops me doing things” shows you don’t understand the seriousness of mental illnesses!

Sounds like a squirrel. They like roof spaces. Cute but a real nuisance to get rid of.

I had this and it was a Starling. It got in through a tiny hole in the eaves. It was scurrying around frantically so we thought it was a rat or a squirrel but when we went up to check it was flying round up there. I managed to lure it down with some water and berries and then it flew out the window - poor thing seemed terrified!

I have a squirrel who regularly visits. Its amazing how much noise he makes (I imagine its a boy with no basis in reality). Hes probably more scared of you than you are of him.

How reassuring you’ve just made op feel.

How was your night, op?

We had a pine marten in our roof space 💅

Try contacting the council again and mention your MH it might get you help quicker (although probably not, my Mum rents from the council and I know there's things we class as urgent but they still take weeks/months to sort out!)
In the meantime could you set up a temporary sleeping space downstairs so at least you can't hear the noise

It will be rats Im sure

Council will come out free for mice & rats, to identify entry points & leave poison. I know it sounds entirely ridiculous to be so scared, but I was exactly the same when it was our attic. I had a full on panic attack when the pest control man went into my attic & was in floods of tears! I felt a right idiot but it just absolutely freaked me out! I hope you get sorted

@DandyPinkDuck Well done for defending yourself in response to that now-deleted post. It was so unpleasant and, frankly, vicious in its tone.

I was once told by a neighbour that I had no "right" to have difficulties in dealing with domestic/property problems since I "had legs and was able to walk". She was amazingly ignorant and judgemental, yet wouldn't apply her own "advice" to any problems she had. She also had a live-in partner to share the load with and was in a better and more secure financial situation than me.

Good luck with sorting out the issue, whatever its cause.

We’ve got bastard squirrels happily visiting our attic at the moment. They are in the space between the ceiling and the roof. Bastards.

They are SO LOUD!

I think squirrel. I had it once and the noise was crazy.

@Ponchodreams
My night was fuelled with anxiety 😅 I barely got much sleep again and it’s really starting to catch up to me, I think at night I feel more vulnerable as it’s dark. I woke around 8:30am and could hear whatever it is on and off till around 10. I really think it was in the house again at one point this morning as the sound wasn’t an overly loud sound coming from above, it sounded closer like another room and I could literally hear its nails scratching the floor as it ran about. I seem to be hearing it throughout the day a lot more now and I’m terrified to leave my room.

Currently debating whether I continue going on like this for two more nights or if I book a hotel so I can get a good sleep and relax better…I don’t have the courage to go in the kitchen now I know it’s been around there so struggling food wise and even going to the bathroom which is right outside my bedroom is really difficult for me, if it wasn’t for those things I’d probably barricade myself in my room and wait it out! My boyfriend (who can’t help as it’s a long distance relationship) said I should try and order food so I don’t have to go into the kitchen, which I was planning to do today but it’s hard getting over the fear and getting out my room to open the front door.

Thank you for asking

Hi OP, fellow OCD sufferer here. This sounds like an absolute nightmare for you. It's weird the things which trigger OCD isn't it? Your situation would probably bother me less than it would the average person, yet there are other triggers which I can't cope with at all and perhaps you could / I know for sure other people can. All this is to say is it the critter or the OCD which is the problem? Now, I'm not suggesting you try to houseshare with it or saying you should snap out of your anxiety. I know only too well that's impossible. But I also know that the more you focus on the external thing as the problem the worse the anxiety gets. Is there something you usually find absorbs your mind, or comforts you, which could take the edge off while you wait for pest control? There are also 2 OCD charities in the UK - OCD Action and OCDUK. Both have helplines, although you may need to leave a message and wait for a callback. I think you can email too. OCD Action runs online support groups too. Do you have a sympathetic GP? I wonder whether a short course of anti anxiety meds might be worth thinking about.

It's a bit of a long shot, but you can find your nearest wildlife rescue at helpwildlife.co.uk
IDK if a rescue would come out, they probably wouldn't for your standard mouse incursion, but given you've heard something come in I think it's worth a shot.

It's possible the critter will need to be destroyed, but as others have said do avoid poison if you can. It not only causes a slow, painful death for the critter, but gets often gets into the ecosystem killing owls, foxes etc - all your natural pest control basically.

Off to therapy now myself, tired bcs I was up late cleaning things which were already clean🙃

Go well, you've got this!

If you can afford it, book a hotel.

Have you considered getting a couple of inexpensive webcams and setting them up on the kitchen floor?

With all kindness, I don’t think it’s really possible to hear a small rodent’s nails scratching the floor. Especially a room away. Is there anything besides this that is affecting your mental health? Are you on medication? Can you get in to see your GP?

Please do NOT use poison. Ask the pest management person to use humane traps only.

@FancyAzureGuide
Hello, nice to hear from others who have OCD, I think a lot of my ocd symptoms are anxiety related and as I’m anxious about the pest it’s triggering my ocd, to be honest I think even when the pests removed I’ll still feel the way I do as it’s effected me quite bad. Even before the pest appeared I was struggling mentally, overthinking all the time etc, but right now it’s definitely the pest that’s making it worse. When my mind starts overthinking it’s hard for me to distract myself, I normally have the tv on which I guess would help, but I’ve avoided having it on too much as even though I’m dreading hearing it I want to be able to listen out for it as I’m anxious it’ll come near me.

Funny you mentioned seeing a gp as I actually went to mine on Monday and asked for medication as my anxiety is taking over my life and it effects my sleep massively. He told me he’s unable to give me any medication as I’m currently under a mental health team that want to give me therapy before considering any meds. It’s been really difficult as I’m finally willing to take medication but they won’t give it to me and I’ve not had any therapy as of yet, so I’m left at home to just deal with it all and it’s eating me alive. I have other stuff alongside the anxiety and ocd and they believe therapy is the best option.

Thank you for the support!

@CheeseIsMyIdol
I must admit I do feel like the pest is driving me crazy but I’m pretty certain I heard it running in the house and could hear it’s claws against the floor or at least a scratching noise that I can’t hear when it’s in the loft. I do suffer with mental health but I don’t think I was imagining what I heard, I don't experience hallucinations or anything.

That's really frustrating (understatement) about the meds. I might be wrong, but I think the NICE guidelines recommend both therapy and meds if your condition is severe https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg31/chapter/Recommendations#steps-3-to-5-treatment-options-for-people-with-ocd-or-bdd
I'm no diagnostician, and it might be complicated by other conditions you have, but feeling tempted to shut yourself in your room and struggling to eat and sleep is severe in my book!!
Did you see your GP before or after this trigger? I might be way out of line with this, but I'm concerned about it stopping you eating and sleeping, so was thinking of short term sedatives or sleeping pills, like, just for a week or so. Or a hotel if you can afford it. I know that's a bit contradictory with what I said before, but if it's a matter or basic functioning or not then I think there's a case for just doing what helps in the short term.
Are they offering you therapy any time soon? I'm cross at the thought they might be keeping you hanging on without anything. I know it can be a nightmare trying to get treatment. Just started mine after fighting/waiting for 6 years😬 Definitely recommend speaking to one of the OCD charities for guidance and support if you're struggling to get the help you need. I'd probably go with OCDUK as the founder, Ashley Fulwood is a fellow sufferer and on a mission to improve treatment access!! He has been known to contact services ok someone's behalf, though that might be determined by workload. Talking of therapy, I better get going. Why is getting dressed so hard😭

Please don't let anyone use poison. It's a really horrible death. Our neighbours put rat poison down and we had a rat dying on our lawn for what felt like hours until DH put it out of its misery.
We had squirrels in the attic. They look for shelter when the weather gets cold. We blocked up the hole in the daytime. Good luck, OP.

I've had mice in my loft and I absolutely could hear them running around, it's quite surprising how much noise a tiny creature can make

This thread has reminded me of someone I know who had a rat stuck in the cavity wall gap and it moved around could that be what's happened OP

Running around, yes. Hearing their claws scratching in another room, no.

@FancyAzureGuide
So I’ve been struggling with mental health for a few years and been seeing my gp and mental health team regarding this on/off for nearly 2 years. Honestly even before the pest was here I’d genuinely spend my days locked in my room and would struggle eating, I’d have one meal a day if that, I’m underweight due to this and have been referred for a possible eating disorder but again it’s a long wait. I’d actually really like sleeping pills and they’d really help with my sleep but there’s definitely no way of getting anything prescribed right now.

I have a video call today at 3 with someone from the mental health team, I think it’s to do another needs evaluation before any therapy starts, hopefully it’s not as long as the wait you had to do, I can’t believe you had to wait 6 years 🥲 I don’t have diagnosed OCD, I had an appointment with a doctor under my mental health team recently and they said my ocd symptoms of having to repeat certain things and feeling like I have to do it till it “feels right” are most likely due to anxiety which I kinda agree with. But it was confirmed that I have anxiety, depression and BPD as well as symptoms of PTSD/OCD but the symptoms for those ones aren’t strong enough to get a diagnosis. I seem to have been struggling with these things for some years now.

Were in the same boat with that one, I find it so hard to get dressed I decide to stay in my pyjamas 😅 hope your therapy is going well!