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Irrational fear

Dear moderators and members,
How to manage an illness anxiety related stress? Any advice will be appreciated. Despite having several negative test result I am still worried. I was told to see a psychiatrist by a STD/Hiv doctor despite I am in the window period technically.  
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First you said psychiatrist, now you say psychologist.  The two are quite different.  Psychiatrists these days just give out meds, they don't generally do therapy anymore.  Psychologists can't prescribe meds, they just do therapy.  Which to see depends on how badly your life is being affected and how many things are affecting it.  IF the only thing that brings on your problems is HIV fears, that would be easier to therapy to handle than if you have a ton of them and your life has gotten to the point where you aren't functioning very well, which you seem to indicate is the case but it's always hard to know from short posts on here.  Also know that a lot of people are diagnosed with OCD but very few actually have it.  I actually have it, but before I got it from a reaction to stopping a medication I definitely didn't have it but my psychiatrist was forever trying to tell me I did.  This can be a problem, as it's a bit of a fad these days.  Sometimes these diagnoses run in fads.  True OCD means you have rituals you have to perform or you get very anxious.  It's insidious, as the more you perform them, the worse the anxiety gets.  Treatment for it is different in therapy than treatment for anxiety, which also involves obsessive thinking.  If none of us obsessed over our anxiety we wouldn't have an anxiety disorder.  A psychologist an diagnose you and recommend you see a psychiatrist for medication if you need it; a general doc can't, really, as they don't study psychology in medical school.  Most of the psychology taught in medical school in the short course for psychiatrists is taught by psychologists, as they learn a whole lot more of it in their studies.  Without a diagnosis, it's hard to know how to proceed.  I only mention this because, again, if you do have OCD, the treatment is different than that for other forms of anxiety, so it's good to know what you have.  As Mom has said, this is not something you can diagnose yourself with over the internet, as all anxiety involves obsessive thinking.   If you want better input here, tell us if you have a bunch of things that are making your life miserable or is it confined to HIV phobia?
Helpful - 0
973741 tn?1342342773
While I guess you could interpret what I wrote as saying to move on from your hiv fear which you should, what I really want you to hear is that you need psychiatric help. See a psychiatrist.  That's the message I'd like you to get.
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973741 tn?1342342773
Well, you can't diagnose yourself sir.  You need to see a doctor for ocd/anxiety to be diagnosed.  The internet may suggest you have ocd but hey, I could tell you that too.  You clearly seem to anyway.  But you can't get treatment that way and that's what you need.  Instead of ruminating on hiv/std----  go talk about anxiety with a doctor.  good luck
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1 Comments
Dear Specialmom, thank you for your encouragement. A prolonged stress/anxiety just eats me alive, it affects my mood and health. The foctor who works for a STD/hiv hospital spoke to me not go for further test based on my results and a nature of a exposure. She urged me to see a psychologist. Thank you for your advice, I will try to move on.
973741 tn?1342342773
You've been diagnosed with OCD?  This is not something to self diagnose---  it is a medical condition that a psychiatrist will diagnose and begin treating.  Have you taken that step?
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1 Comments
I diagnosed myself for OCD based on my behaviours (symptoms) and an internet tests.
Avatar universal
Dear specialmom,
Thank you for your time and response. I have OCD which I always try to make sure everything 100 percent perfect.
Helpful - 0
973741 tn?1342342773
So, you are getting a very clear message from your doctor or doctors you have seen.  You have a psychological disorder. This is a medical condition just like hiv or an std would be.  You treat it like you would if you had those.  This means seeing the right doctor for it (psychiatrist) and going at it to recover and get better.  This may or may not include psychiatric medication and likely should include talk therapy with a psychologist.  Plus, the desire to treat the anxiety and to stop going back to HIV/STD--- acceptance that anxiety/ocd are the reason you are feeling as you do.  Ready to do that?
Helpful - 0
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