Asbestos

[Brainisfried80s]

I’m posting here because I’m utterly broken and really struggling. Kids and I exposed to white asbestos when knocking down part of a wall five years ago. Had a near nervous breakdown once we realised at the time and had managed to soldier on since then, though it has always been on my mind. Fast forward to now and family member under taking a renovation triggered it all off again. I’m speaking to a counsellor because I feel such utter despair that my kids have a possibility of getting an asbestos related disease. No matter how much anyone tries to reassure me it “might not happen” the lack of certainty is sending me spiralling. I know there’s no certainty in life about anything but I can’t seem to move on from this. Everything so tarnished and I feel such a heavy weight of guilt that I could have marred their life or cut it short. The counselling I’m not finding helpful. I don’t know if medication would help, because the fact is we’ve been exposed to this risk and I’m not sure how medication would help me get over that fact. I’ve even thought about some kind of hypnosis I feel that wretched. My husband is totally not worried, but then he doesn’t worry about anything and I am a total worrier, he is supportive of my mental health though and cares a lot about me getting better, I just don’t know if I can. I don’t know what I’m looking for on here, I just feel desperate. I’ve contacted charities that work on issues surrounding asbestos but they can’t offer me what my mind is desperate for and I don’t know how to overcome this.

So several things here.

• White asbestos is one of the lower risk asbestos types

• You were exposed ONCE. Mesothelioma is predominantly associated with people exposed continually to high levels of asbestos over long periods of time - i.e. workmen, cutting and drilling into it because it used to be a major component in house building. For a long time there were tens of thousands exposed every day to concentrations FAR FAR higher than you received, and only a few ended up with problems.

• People are exposed to low levels of asbestos all the time because it's a natural fibre and there's a certain amount of it in the air all the time. Before we started using asbestos, some people still developed Mesothelioma, presumably because of exposure to this natural level.

• Since they determined asbestos was dangerous, safety precautions were taken, however the masks used for years were not actually good enough, meaning the workers were continually exposed. People feared this might result in a new wave of cases, but it never materialised.

To put your risk in perspective, it's like smoking and lung cancer. The lifetime risk factor from smoking 20/day of lung cancer is about 15%. You're anxious because you once had a puff from a cigarette!

Changing the subject slightly, anxiety isn't a logical thought process.

You're already highly emotional about this issue, so your mind is operating on the flight/fight level and since you can do neither here, you're struggling. What I've put above probably makes no difference to you right now, because you're not thinking logically. It's thus unlikely you can think your way out of this - the more you think about it, the more anxious you get. You need to recognise this and take steps to STOP thinking about it, to discipline your mind - it's hard, but quite possible as the techniques are the same as someone quitting smoking would use to banish cravings. The instant your mind wanders back to this issue, redirect it onto something else! If you can't do it, hypnosis may help.

Once you have taken control of your thought processes and CAN think logically about it again, the anxiety will be gone because realistically you've nothing to worry about.

Thank you for replying, I really appreciate it. I will try and redirect my thoughts, that makes a lot of sense.

Not much advice but I can relate to this so much. My anxiety spirals when it comes to asbestos. It was in my office crumbling off a pipe. Several of us were exposed over years working in there. I obsess over where it might be in our house and get terrified every time we drill into any walls. In truth people are exposed all the time because asbestos is pretty much everywhere. It will be in most buildings pre 90s. As notrub says I really think the risk is from years of exposure, and even then it’s not a massive % of people who get ill. I read somewhere recently that inhaling white asbestos is not more dangerous than inhaling dust from say, sandstone.

Thank you for replying, I’m sorry to hear this is something that bothers you too. It just overshadows everything for me, for someone already prone to anxiety it’s a nightmare.

@Brainisfried80s hi, I am in similar situation to you, have you any tips for overcoming the worry as it is overtaking my life, builders cut couple of asbestos cement boards outside kids window (closed but old with rubbishy seals) and just cannot cope with fact that some dust got in. Guess will never know if any got in but does not stop the constant worry, any help at overcoming anxiety in such a situation greatly appreciated.

Loz

If it helps, smoking is much more dangerous than asbestos.

Honestly, the chance that any could have got in through a closed window is next to nil and the chance that they were nearby at the time to inhale it before it settled? Also nil.

Even if they were, a one off exposure to the least harmful type of asbestos is not going to lead to disease. People who get that are generally workmen who were exposed time and time again after disturbing it.

My nan and grandad lived in a house with asbestos. They did extensive renovation and never took precautions as they didn't know it was there until later. They died in their 80s, one of a stroke and the other of diabetes related complications.

Thanks for taking time to reply, I am clinging to hope that unlikely any got in as I am a bit of a worrier and can’t handle thought that something has harmed the little ones, guess got a blind spot when comes to the kids and health. I have spent too much time reading about asbestos since it happened and some of the facts don’t help- by using the saw they did millions of microscopic fibres would have been released and I just keep envisaging them floating onto those dodgy window seals and possibly in. For the cancer side of it there is no threshold like for asbestosis but also accept that whilst one fibre can get you statistically you are going to have to be exposed to quite a few fibres for that one to get in although there are a lot of studies that show people with the worst outcome from a small exposure, guess there are always outliers and maybe there is some genetic predisposition to it as well. Guess will never know and all about how best to handle it mentally and that was what interested in as what has happened has happened and all about trying to deal with it and original poster sounded like exactly what I am going through which I am finding very tough,

Lawrence