fear of being poisoned

[olivia]

I am having a particularily disturbing problem, and I was wondering if you could help. It may sound silly, but is a very real fear to me. I am afraid to eat because I am deathly afraid that someone has poisoned what I am eating. Whether it be restaurant food, snack food from the corner store, or even food in my own house that I bought myself. I have no reason for this, no one is after me to kill me. But everytime I eat, I panic, thinking I have been poisoned. Have you dealt with this before? What is wrong with me? This has just started in the past week, getting worse everyday. What can I do for this?

[HFHS-M.D.-HG]

Dear Olivia,

                 From the limited information that is provided, it is difficult to make a specific diagnosis. It seems like you may be  having either  paranoia (suspiciousness,  not based on a realistic assessment of the situation) or  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  Paranoid symptoms  are seen in several psychiatric disorders. There are several medications that are available in the market which are proven to be effective in the treatment of paranoia. I would recommend that you get a comprehensive  evaluation  by a trained Mental Health   Professional for adequate diagnosis and treatment.

Key words: Paranoia, OCD

[Laura]

This sounds like a form of OCD,The mind is a funny thing,Your not crazy,You should check out some sites on OCD and see if you can relate,
god bless
Laura

[Christine]

Just to let you know--I've experienced similar thoughts.  My fears center around eating food that might have bacteria in it which will make me sick.  I am suspect of just about EVERYTHING I eat.  I carefully look at all my food to make sure it is cooked properly or that it has been sealed properly.  Even then, I still get very nervous that the food is contaminated in some way.  This has progressively been getting worse over the past few months.  I have always had episodes of hypochondriasis and this seems very similar to me in the thought process.  Most of my thoughts seem to stem from an episode (VERY BAD EPISODE) of giardia that I contracted last year.  Also, all the articles about food borne illnesses don't help.  Very anxious to hear the doc's response on this one.
Christine