Is fear of poisoning related to OCD?

I live alone and even in my own apartment if I open a bottle of water and step out of the room when I come back I throw the bottle of water away. My mind tells me someone probably came into my place and put poison in my water. I always check safety seals and if they do not crack just right I will throw the product away. I check food items in plastic wrappers by squeezing them to make sure no air escapes which would indicate a syringe has been poked through the wrapper. Is this behavior normal?

If this behavior begins to disrupt your daily living/work/relationships, then I would consider it a symptom of OCD. I would not say that this behavior is normal, but everyone has their quirks. But if you feel that you fixate on this, I would seek help. For instance I will not allow scissors to sit out around my house - they must stay in the drawer and I certainly will not sleep with them sitting out on my nightstand or dresser. I fear that someone will trip and fall on them or break into the house and use them as a weapon. It's an irrational fear but only one that I think about when I handle scissors. If I were to constantly worry about them or check on them all the time, that would be OCD.

It sounds more like a phobia to me, not so much as ocd. You might need to talk to someone...... professionally that is.

Why would anyone want to hurt you? Relax. Unless you work undercover, "you have nothing to fear except fear itself, " as the popular saying goes.

It can be related to OCD

Your fear sounds like a bit of a phobia. However, some fears of poisoning are, in fact, based on logical reasoning. I knew a woman who had 3 husbands die. The first two died from eating poison mushrooms. The 3rd one died from being hit over the head with a shovel. In amazement, I asked her how her 3rd husband got hit in the head with a shovel. She told me, quite matter-of-factly,


"He wouldn't eat his mushrooms."