Scarleteen

Hello. I'm a 17 year old girl, and ever since I got my first period at around 12 or 13 I've had an intense fear of getting pregnant in absurd ways like the toilet seat in the bathroom that I share with my 16 year old brother, toilet paper, ect. ect.

I sometimes avoid sitting in certain places because I am afraid of semen somehow being there. I don't do this as often anymore but it is still something I sometimes think about.

I also have to constantly check my clothes before I put them on after a shower or when getting dressed for the day because I'm afraid that somehow semen will be on my feet from the bathroom that me and my brother share or some other surface and then get rubbed onto my underwear and then touch my vagina or something and get me pregnant. I know logically that likely isn't possible, and most things I read say the same, but unfortunately logic doesn't seem to do much to ease my fear.

I also wash my hands alot before I get dressed and wash my hands repeatedly with soap in the shower before I wash myself because I am scared of semen being on my hands and getting on me. It's getting bad, and to the point where my showers take 30 minutes or more and getting dressed can sometimes take up to an hour because I am repeatedly checking every piece of clothing I put on for semen.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, and I hope I'm not breaking any rules, but I just really need some help as I dont have access to therapy or anything like that currently.

Any help is very appreciated. Thanks.

Hello and welcome, AJ123!

I'm sorry to hear that you've been feeling so scared and worried about pregnancy, but I am glad you reached out to us. This is the right place for your post, and you are not breaking any rules--we'd be happy to help you think about ways to manage this fear.

You are correct that pregnancy isn't possible in the situations you described, but we do understand that knowing the facts is not always enough to calm certain worries. We have an article that goes over a couple reasons why people worry about pregnancy when it isn't possible:You're Not Pregnant. Why Do You Think You Are? Would you look over it, and let us know if any explanations resonate with you?

We've seen that people with concerns like yours often benefit from specialized support for things like anxiety and OCD. If you would like, we can help you think through your options, and see if we can find ways around any barriers together. We can also share resources with anxiety management strategies you could try on your own, if that sounds useful.

I appreciate the article, I read through it and it does help a little with just further reinforcing what I know so far.

I think the best option for me would probably be getting therapy, or medication or some sort of help like that. So I will have to review some options, it's just difficult to find therapists since I live in such a small town.

If you could offer anything else to put my mind at ease, or any sort of anxiety coping mechanisms or things like that to help with my problem I would appreciate that immensely.

And I also really appreciate what you have already given me so far. Thank you!

Hi AJ123,

Glad that the article Latha gave you has helped! Here are some of our articles and resources on anxiety and self-care if you'd like to read more:
- Anxiety and Other Mental Health Resources
- Pregnancy Scare Resources
- Self-Care: A La Carte!
- Self-Care When It's Scary

If you'd like anything else that we haven't covered here (aside from mental health counseling, which we can't provide), please let us know!