Dr, today I was at an office in town with my mother & she went into a room to get some papers for me while I waited in reception. She came back with papers & said a man went into a different office to where she was to get the papers from someone else & the papers needed to be signed by 3 different people. 3 different people handled the sheets of paper that she didn’t see as she was in a different room& there were another two men who handled the papers in front of her So a total of 6 different people handled these sheets of papers including her, 3 people she didn’t see but the 3 new signatures were proof there were definitely 3 other people who handled the papers. Well I got a paper cut while my mother was handing me the papers, 5 seconds from those 2 men handling the papers, 1 minute from the other 3 people, plus probably more people handling the papers too
I don’t know if she or anyone got a paper cut or if there was any blood on the papers already & I can’t check as I threw the papers away right after I got the paper cut & didn’t ask my mother as she knows I have a fear of blood and she wouldn’t tell me anyhow. My minds been racing thinking “what if my mother or one of those 5 people also got a paper cut & blood went on the paper, then when I got the paper cut it had been in the same place on the paper they might have got a paper cut & their blood then went into me via my paper cut?” “or maybe my mother or one of those 5 people or someone else already had a cut &/or got blood via some other way on the papers then that blood got into me via my paper cut”. I don’t know the HIV status of any of the people who handled the papers including my mother & I didn’t personally see anyone handling the papers other than my Mother as I wasn’t in the same room but know 6 people did. I didn’t see my mother get a paper cut but she did have some cuts on her hands. There was between 1 – 8 sheets of paper
Dr I would appreciate it if it is possible for you to give me just a straight "yes" or "no" answer to these two questions due to my over-active mind and reading into things?
This really is a paranoid scenraio you are painting. What about currency notes or coins or keys or letters -it will never end? There is no risk ever of HIV through the method you suggest - none at all. Impossible. You certainly do not need to test for HIV.
I don't think these questions assist you. I would suggest that clinical psychology might be a more appropriate way of dealing with these issues.
Thank you for much for your reply it was so helpful and it didn’t leave any room for my OCD mind to read into such as leaving questions marks over things by saying “well if you need reassurance get an HIV test” or “its unlikely” etc. Your help has been actually incredibly helpful in my battle of HIV phobia and OCD. I was not able to even go to a supermarket at one point until your help. I am starting counselling now though my GP over my no risk fears of HIV.
Yes you are exactly right what would be the “next thing” as one of your Doctors also told me while I was at your surgery getting an HIV test, I remember he told me I don’t need one and wasn’t at risk for HIV but because I insisted he still did give me an HIV test. In relation to the cut incident, every time I get a cut I think I might have caught HIV or think what if the cut was from a syringe that I didn’t see as sometimes when I cut myself I don’t know what it was on and think that’s the same for most people in terms of most people don’t know what they have cut themselves on when they have a cut at times. I wish I could get over this cut thing as every time I cut myself I think I might have caught HIV and it sends me into a downwards spiral of depression.
For instance last night I was staying in my friends guest bed in his guest room and I decided to make sure there were no sharp objects anywhere in the room and I was moving the bed and lifting the bed up and he had lots of items like his sons toys, batteries and all sorts of things etc in the storage compartment under the bed, well lots of things fell out while I lifted the bed up. I was using my bare hands while doing this and didn't have any gloves on. I then started to put the items back when I cut my finger on something while putting the items back and it was a very small round cut that bled. I then saw a needle like the one you sew with or is in clothes on the floor but don’t think it was that which I cut myself on. I then started to think “ohh a needle, what if my cut was from a syringe or a razor that I didn't see that might have been amongst the items that I was putting back under the bed as I didn't of course see everything I was putting away as something’s were in bags and some items I couldn’t see because it was dark in the beds compartments and because I was just putting things back under the bed without looking at what everything was. I know my friend uses razors for a wet shave and as far as I know him and his wife and son are not drug users or use syringes for any medical reasons but don’t know for certain but they do have different people staying over sometimes in the bed I was sleeping in and in the room I was sleeping in and I have no idea who they have staying over nor do I know the HIV status of anyone who stays over or if anyone who stays over in the bed I was sleeping in or the room I was sleeping in injects drugs or uses syringes for any medical reasons that the cut might have been from or might have left a used razor that I might have got the cut from on or of the HIV status of my friends or their son. I think I got the cut when I was putting the items back or it could have been when the items fell out and hit my hands or maybe at some point while I was moving the bed or moving some pieces of wood.
Dr would your answers also be the same to the cut incident I describe in this reply comment too?, which is no risk of HIV from the event I describe and no need to test for HIV for this event I describe?
There is no risk here at all of HIV and I would completely discount it.
The clinical psychology input is likely to be the most helpful for you - sometimes medications will also assist in terms of breaking this intrusive, uncomfortable cycle you are in. I would discuss these options with your GP.
Incident I am worried about.
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