What Must I Do About Severe OCD And Maddening Anxiety About The Welfare Of My Children?

Posted on Tue, 13 Sep 2022

Question: Hi Doctor,
I am suffering from acute OCD for the past 25 years. Now, I am a father of two children. One is 2.7 and the other is 5 months old. Due to OCD, I always have this feeling that I might harm my beautiful kids. I’m always afraid that they will be infected by rabies because of me. For instance, I went out with my family 3 days ago. There were few road dividers and I was holding my 5 months old daughter in my arm. Just to adjust myself while holding her, I rested her legs on the top of the steel divider.

Now, I am going crazy thinking that there was a dog or a cat and the animal was on that steel divider and she is infected with rabies. I know that there wasn't any animal around but I am not able to get it out of my head and thinking whether I should administer anti-rabies vaccine on her. To just make you understand more of my mental condition, I am explaining one more instance.

Every day, I drop my son at school. Yesterday, while putting shoes on him, he hit the wooden shoe shelf in a playing way, like most kids do. Now, I am going crazy. My brain is giving me signals that there might be a cat under the shoe shelf and my son got scratched by a cat or a dog or even a bat. I know that’s not the case but my brain isn’t understanding.
Please help me. This guilt of harming my kids is driving me to the verge of madness. I don’t want to visit a psychiatrist.

I need help.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Soujanya (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
My suggestion.

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

There is definitely nothing to worry as it is curable and can be maintained well with regular medications.
I think, it is advisable to start antidepressants like fluoxetine to combat your symptoms and maintain well.

You can consult your doctor for prescription based medicine.

Hope this information would help you. Feel free to ask any further questions.
Thank you.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Soujanya (34 minutes later)

Thank you for the reply. I have already started taking Prodep 20 mg for the past two days. So, do I need to give my kids anti-rabies injections? I know it is a laughable question but I need to hear from a doctor who understands my mental condition.

Apart from medication that I am taking, is there anything else that I need to do to not think about my intrusive thoughts? I know it is impossible to stop the flow of thoughts. But, I want to understand ways to not to react to these thoughts.

Please suggest.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Soujanya (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
My suggestion.

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

I can understand you are suffering from intrusive thoughts.

But, as you are aware of that those are uncontrollable and irrationality, that is much more indication for better prognosis of your problem.

You have very good insight for your problem, so it is easy to manage.

I think it is better to escalate the dose of fluoxetine for better response with your doctor's advise.

You can take cognitive behavior therapy sessions to get rid of your intrusive thoughts more effectively along with medications.

Definitely, it is not required to vaccinate your child as per your information.

Hope this information would help you.
Thank you.

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad