Health anxiety/health ocd. Please help me!

[Rach7291]

I could really do with some advice.
I have health anxiety/health ocd and am desperate to get over it! Problem is, its transferred onto my baby now. Shes 9 months old and i’m terrified of her getting ill. I clean everything constantly and am so careful where I take her and who see’s her. I am convinced something awful will happen if she gets ill. I know i need to do something but i’ve had so much therapy and nothing works! Has anyone else suffered with this or have any tips? I don’t want to ruin her life like mine is!

Have you tried CBT?

I do CBT as a therapist and you need a therapist that knows what they're doing and you need the 'right' therapist

@onetwothreefourfive11 i've had 4 rounds of CBT. I'm currently doing my 5th but i just don't feel like its helping. I don't know what to do anymore

That sounds so difficult.

Do you feel ready for therapy with a young baby?
As it can be a lot of tasks between sessions to keep it moving to recover from the anxiety ?

@onetwothreefourfive11 i haven't been given many tasks to do. But i need to get over this fear i have with illness because my baby needs a normal life. I can't keep her safe with me forever.

There should be enough 'homework' to help you move forward between sessions.

No you cannot live like that

Hello,

I have OCD too, sorry you’re experiencing this, I’m pregnant with my first and can wholeheartedly relate to what you have described. I am curious - what are you doing in therapy at the moment? Is it ERP (Exposure response prevention)?

I know CBT is quite a broad term for many therapies but ERP is the gold standard treatment. Forgive me if this is something you have done already or are actively doing and I’m telling you things you already know. But it is about identifying your compulsions, and slowly working towards letting them go. By tackling the compulsions / behaviours, you lessen the grip that the thoughts / fears (obsessions) have on you.

Remember OCD only latches on to what we love and value the most, it has a “better safe than sorry” motto, and doesn’t like to sit in any uncertainty. But it’s that uncertainty that we have to learn to tolerate through active psychological therapies. Pregnancy has come with a tonne of uncertainty for me and my OCD has kicked my arse with both real time and hypothetical scenarios so I still use ERP techniques to this day. X