Anxiety Surrounding Pregnancy

[Infoneeded]

Hello,
I’ve recently been undergoing some extreme anxiety surrounding pregnancy. The situation surrounding this was around 3 weeks ago, I did manual sex on my boyfriend. Following that, I went to the bathroom, rinsed my hand off with tap water, and dried it with a towel. Following that, I used the bathroom, and ever since then I’ve been filled with anxiety on whether or not I could’ve had some viable sperm left on my hand that could’ve somehow made its way into my vagina to cause pregnancy. While I know this physically can’t be possible on a logical level, which I’ve gained more knowledge on from reading articles Scarleteen has posted, since the transfer of ejaculate to my hand to toilet paper to vagina is too many stops to cause a viable pregnancy, let alone the fact that I rinsed my hand with tap water and dried it with a towel. Furthermore, I’ve recently gotten my period, yet I still can’t shake the idea that I could potentially be pregnant as I started going down the rabbit hole of reading about decidual bleeding and how it’s period-like. I know logically, that I can’t possibly be pregnant, and I thought my anxiety would go away once I got my period, but it hasn’t. I was hoping to get some advice on exercises, etc. on how to reduce my anxiety surrounding this situation because logic and facts just aren’t cutting it anymore. I’ve always struggled with anxiety, and I’m just feeling worried that it’ll always be this way.
Also, sorry for how long this is

[CaitlinEve]

Hi Infoneeded, welcome to Scarleteen!

Pregnancy anxiety is very common, so please know that you're not alone in this! However, this type of anxiety also leads to spiraling. You mention multiple times that you know it's not possible that you are pregnant and you are correct in this! But I know anxiety isn't logical!

I'm glad to hear that you've read through some of our articles related to pregnancy scares. As for exercises and anxiety reduction, I think making sure you have those articles (and articles like them) bookmarked for review can be helpful. It's also important to remind yourself (like you do here) that your anxiety isn't always logical. Do you have things you do for your anxiety if you experience it in other contexts (like breathing exercises with social anxiety, etc) that you think you could translate to this anxiety?

[Infoneeded]

Hi,
Thank you for your answer!
I normally try to just take time to take a breath, and go through everything I’m worried about in my head and try to go over the fact that whatever I’m anxious about is not as serious as I think it is in the grand scheme of things, or I try and think about the fact that even if what I am worried about is true(even though it most probably isn’t) the “worst that could happen” isn’t that bad at all.
Normally, that works ok for me, but in this case I think because my worry is about something more serious than my normal worries, it’s causing more extreme than normal anxiety.
In this case, I’ve bookmarked informative articles and come back to them, and gone through everything in my head, but it just hasn’t been working, so any tips would definitely be appreciated!!

[CaitlinEve]

Since you've already been through our pregnancy scare articles, I want to refer you to this article that's focused on anxiety and resources for it!

Would something like individual or group therapy be helpful and feasible for you?

[Infoneeded]

Thank you for the article!
Yes, I think individual therapy might be helpful for me.
I’ve tried it in the past before, but found it difficult to open up to the therapist, as I’m not naturally a person who feels comfortable with sharing things. However, I think I could benefit from it and it might be time to try again!

[CaitlinEve]

I think it's definitely worth a shot! The worst that can happen is you discover it's not for you. You may also just have not matched with your prior therapist(s) and have yet to find one who you really mesh with!

[Infoneeded]

Thank you so much for your advice and information!!
The work you and everyone else at Scarleteen does is important and amazing!
It’s been very nice to have a helpful place to turn to for more information on my situation!

[HannahP]

Hi Infoneeded! I'm so glad that your conversation with Caitlin was helpful. I just wanted to pass along this article to you, in case you haven't seen it: You're Not Pregnant. Why Do You Think You Are? I love that this article has some suggestions at the bottom for why you might be feeling this sort of anxiety. Figuring out what is at the root of your feelings can help you figure out the next steps for managing them. If any of the ideas in the article resonate with you, we would be happy to talk it out with you and brainstorm ideas for the future.

For the short term, though, when I am feeling anxious about something that I can't solve right away in my head, I like to try to take care of my body. Sometimes if you can "convince" your body that you're really safe and comfortable, that lets your brain settle down too. So I do the things I know make me feel really cozy and relaxed, like taking a hot bath or drinking tea or putting on my comfiest clothes or listening to music or watching a show I really like. And when my body feels better, it's often easier to think about the thing making me anxious. Hope that helps a little! <3

[Infoneeded]

Hi!!
Thank you for your response and the article!
I’ve actually read through that article a few times to try and force the actual facts of my situation into my head, in hopes that it’ll make me stop worrying.
I most likely have an anxiety disorder, and I realize I should get help and/or treatment from medical professionals because of it.
It’s always been very difficult for me to stop spiraling when dealing with things I’m anxious about, and this case hasn’t been any different.
I like to consider myself a logical person, but when it comes to situations like this, all my logic seems to go out the window. It’s not in any way possible for me to be pregnant, I know that.
I’ve even gotten my period, yet my brain has just warped that into saying what if I’m one of the rare people experiencing decidual bleeding and don’t realize that it wasn’t a period.
I’m going to aim to try getting some professional medical help with my anxiety, and at the very least in the present moment looking into some different exercises to help manage my anxiety in a better way.
Thank you for your advice in the short term, I’ve noticed that doing things that make me happy and being around people who make me happy has reduced my thinking and being anxious.
Hopefully continuing doing this will help me come to terms with the fact that I’m not pregnant regardless of my anxiety telling me it could be a possibility.

[KierC]

Hey there Infoneeded,

I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with anxiety and overthinking, but I am really glad you’re planning to seek professional support with this. How are you finding the process of finding a therapist? Is it something you’d like to talk about or would like support with?

[Infoneeded]

Hi!
Due to the hectic nature of my schedule currently, I’m not able to find and go to a therapist at the moment. But ideally, in the near future, I’ll have the time to do so. I believe I’ll be ok with the process of finding a therapist, and I appreciate all the help and support Scarleteen has given me!!

[KierC]

Ah, I hear that! I’m sorry to hear things have been hectic recently, but glad to hear you feel good about finding support when you have some more time.

If you’d like any more support about the process at any point, or have any other questions, we’re here for you.

[Infoneeded]

Thank you so much!!