Being Preoccupied with fears of possible contamination...

[Desolate123]

This morning, while I was at work cleaning as a side job, I picked up this open like box of cards, and it was a stack of cards displaying the name of a pest control business on it....It had a sticky substance inside, and I am pretty sure that the substance was a pesticide.  I may have inhaled deeply too, while I was looking at it, and the pesticide molecules may have been absorbed within me.....

I am now experiencing all these intrusive thoughts about me having brain cell loss/damage because of this exposure......if there is someone out there who can help, I would really like it.....

[Stylishscaredycat]

I experience this often. If I touch a chemical I think it has seeped into my pores, into my blood stream etc. it happens when I clean or when I touch fruits or veggies at the supermarket.

[Desolate123]

Yes, we share similar fears.  I also worry about cleaning solvents, in specific circumstances such as if I have my face too close to a rag with some sort of cleaning substance on it.  I feel as if I cannot live a normal life and will never be able to live the life I so deeply desire because of my anxiety and because of my exposure to such substances...

What tactics do you employ to combat your anxiety?