Rabies Anxiety is back. Possible bat bite

[River2424]

Hello guys, So I already know that I have rabies OCD unfortunately and for the past 2 to 3 months I was doing ok, no scares, and everything was under control until 1 week ago. I was outside at 7:00 PM getting the mail out from my mailbox and I just stopped to check what mail we received and a black shadow came in my view in front of me for a brief second. Did not see what it was, no sound, no feeling, just a black shadow. I initially thought it was an insect or something else but then I felt a sting on my left ring finger, but brushed it off thinking maybe it was nerve sting. I went home and my fear came back cause I saw two pinprick marks right next to each other, then a couple of hours later, saw on my middle finger a scratch that looked pretty new too. So yeah, my chaos brain jumped that black shadow was a bat, landed on my hand, bit me, or did not even land, came scratched my finger and just vanished like always.

Is this my Rabies and Bat fear acting up again, would I have heard, seen them, are they silent or not and would have I seen them scratching me or landing on my hand/finger. Thanks and sorry to post again

 

[Jonathan123]

You say 'vanished like always'. You have had this scare so many times and nothing has happened. It is difficult to believe that anyone supposedly bitten by a bat would not see the bat or feel it on you. It would be a lot more than just a fleeting glance. We so often scratch or knock ourselves without realising it. I get bruises from god knows where. I know I must have bumped into something, but forget what. The imagination can play so many tricks that we begin to believe some of them must be true. All the time you live in fear of bats you will feel anxious. At some time in your life you have picked up this fear and it is still in your unconscious. Something you read or saw but seemingly forgot. Anything can 'trigger' an anxious response to your already fearful mind.

 

[River2424]

You say 'vanished like always'. You have had this scare so many times and nothing has happened. It is difficult to believe that anyone supposedly bitten by a bat would not see the bat or feel it on you. It would be a lot more than just a fleeting glance. We so often scratch or knock ourselves without realising it. I get bruises from god knows where. I know I must have bumped into something, but forget what. The imagination can play so many tricks that we begin to believe some of them must be true. All the time you live in fear of bats you will feel anxious. At some time in your life you have picked up this fear and it is still in your unconscious. Something you read or saw but seemingly forgot. Anything can 'trigger' an anxious response to your already fearful mind.

Thanks for answering. What else could it have been if not a bat. I just can't think of something else. Black thing in my vision then those pinprick marks. Nothing else comes to mind. Yes, this is not new and this fear I have had for quite some time and there has been countless "invisible" encounters with bats but this one is the scariest. Thanks

 

[Iugrad91]

It’s the scariest because each time we have a scare like this it is compounded by our past experience and fears, and it’s the one happening right now. Do you know those marks weren’t there before this? What else could it have been? A bunch of other things, or nothing at all. At 7pm where I am it’s quite dark and it’s very hard to see anything, shadows can be deceiving, it may have just been your eyes adjusting to the darkness.

 

[River2424]

It’s the scariest because each time we have a scare like this it is compounded by our past experience and fears, and it’s the one happening right now. Do you know those marks weren’t there before this? What else could it have been? A bunch of other things, or nothing at all. At 7pm where I am it’s quite dark and it’s very hard to see anything, shadows can be deceiving, it may have just been your eyes adjusting to the darkness.

It might have been my shadow, an insect, other flying thing, or yes these marks could have been there the day before, or before that scenario, everything is possible, but I am terrified of bats and my mind is jumping to this creature every time, and now seeing this black shadow intensified my fear, the only thing keeping me saying this is a bat 100 percent is I did not hear anything, no fluttering, no clicking, no wind, nothing, only shadow. Thanks very much for answering

 

[Jonathan123]

It’s the scariest because each time we have a scare like this it is compounded by our past experience and fears, and it’s the one happening right now. Do you know those marks weren’t there before this? What else could it have been? A bunch of other things, or nothing at all. At 7pm where I am it’s quite dark and it’s very hard to see anything, shadows can be deceiving, it may have just been your eyes adjusting to the darkness.

I have said many times before and it is worth repeating. There is no end to our imaginations. The mind can conjure up all sorts of images and they always seem so real. Mirages in the desrt seem real, and if we are thirsty we will run toward them only to find they receced even further. When our mind is tired from constant worry we can even have hallucinations. It is not harmful but can be frightening. You might say 'but what about the marks? They could be anything. You may have had them days before the bat.
Can you try and accept your feelings and emotions as anxiety, and only that?

 

[River2424]

I have said many times before and it is worth repeating. There is no end to our imaginations. The mind can conjure up all sorts of images and they always seem so real. Mirages in the desrt seem real, and if we are thirsty we will run toward them only to find they receced even further. When our mind is tired from constant worry we can even have hallucinations. It is not harmful but can be frightening. You might say 'but what about the marks? They could be anything. You may have had them days before the bat.
Can you try and accept your feelings and emotions as anxiety, and only that?

Trust me I am trying everything in my power to accept this as anxiety. That is what I was doing these past 2 months, but the what-if scenario does not let me rest, the shadow this time, the marks, I know the 0.0000001 chance will always be there, but my mind is making me think that I missed the bat, did not hear it and that sting sensation was it biting me or scratching me. It is hard. I accept the feelings, and then it comes back with force telling me that nope, it was indeed a bat, what else could it be and that marks, it was a bat that did that; the shadow alone convinces me that it was the "invisible" bat that every time I try to find but its nowhere. Even when I saw the shadow, I inspected the area quickly, but again, as you can imagine, there are no bats; I don't know if it is because of their size, or if bats are not common in the area where I live. Unfortunatley, my county sees a lot of rabid bat cases throughout the year, but in my city, which is in the middle of the county, so no forests near it, never seen them at all. Thanks

The most common one here is a Mexican-free tail bat. The other ones are California myotis, hoary bat, and Western pipistrelle.

 

[Canuck]

We had a bat get into our apartment and they are not ninjas. We were immediately aware of it. I really think you would have heard it, especially if it had gotten close enough to touch you. I heard it from another room.

 

[Seryn]

I live in quite a rural area and in the summer months the bats fly around constantly at dusk. They wouldn't dream of coming near a human. Ever. They're quite erratic flyers so you always see them first. And way too big for you to not notice if one came in contact. There would be no anxiety "what ifs" you'd not be able to miss one. So if you're uncertain and saw only a shadow there's no chance.

 

[River2424]

We had a bat get into our apartment and they are not ninjas. We were immediately aware of it. I really think you would have heard it, especially if it had gotten close enough to touch you. I heard it from another room.

Thanks for answering. Well, good then, I have heard that they make fluttering noises and clicking noises too when they fly and when they are near us humans. The shadow might have been something else then. Its my mind creating this "invisible" bat scenario. Its just so scary that the events match up perfectly, the shadow, sting and the pinprick marks, its like my mind is doing this on purpose to scare me and make me focus on something like this. Thanks

I live in quite a rural area and in the summer months the bats fly around constantly at dusk. They wouldn't dream of coming near a human. Ever. They're quite erratic flyers so you always see them first. And way too big for you to not notice if one came in contact. There would be no anxiety "what ifs" you'd not be able to miss one. So if you're uncertain and saw only a shadow there's no chance.

Thanks for answering. That is good that you can see them, my main scare always has been a bat biting me without me knowing because of my attention span but to this day, I still have to hear or feel or SEE a bat, but I only see shadows, sting sensations. And yes, I am uncertain what the shadow was, after seeing it, I tried inspecting that area in front of me, but of course nothing was found cause there were grass there and it was almost dark to see anything but I tried my best, but again no bat, only sensations and visions. Thanks again

 

[Cuchculan]

The mind will always jump to the thing you fear the most of all. That is exactly what has happened here. Nothing else.

 

[River2424]

The mind will always jump to the thing you fear the most of all. That is exactly what has happened here. Nothing else.

Yes, you are correct. I guess I have to tell myself once more that this was my overthinking and hope I'm right, which I am, so ima stop doubting myself and just move on, although the what-ifs will be in the back of my mind. I bet if I was scared of snakes like this and if snakes had the same diseases, I would have been afraid of snakes, but I would not care if I saw one, so yes, the mind is the first enemy when it comes to overthinking. Dr. Google exaggerates a lot when it comes to Rabies and bats. You won't see them; they are too small, every pinprick is a bite, etc. So this is where the "invisible" bat scares mostly come from. I have also been told that the info on Google is very outdated and certain specific information is not provided, so just overloaded with misinformation in regards to rabies and bats. Thanks a lot for responding.

 

[Cheyworship]

Hello guys, So I already know that I have rabies OCD unfortunately and for the past 2 to 3 months I was doing ok, no scares, and everything was under control until 1 week ago. I was outside at 7:00 PM getting the mail out from my mailbox and I just stopped to check what mail we received and a black shadow came in my view in front of me for a brief second. Did not see what it was, no sound, no feeling, just a black shadow. I initially thought it was an insect or something else but then I felt a sting on my left ring finger, but brushed it off thinking maybe it was nerve sting. I went home and my fear came back cause I saw two pinprick marks right next to each other, then a couple of hours later, saw on my middle finger a scratch that looked pretty new too. So yeah, my chaos brain jumped that black shadow was a bat, landed on my hand, bit me, or did not even land, came scratched my finger and just vanished like always.

Is this my Rabies and Bat fear acting up again, would I have heard, seen them, are they silent or not and would have I seen them scratching me or landing on my hand/finger. Thanks and sorry to post again

Almost exact same thing happened to me. Me and my bf were coming home after dinner (8 PM) and when we were standing in front of the door as he unlocked it I swear I saw this black shadow just above my eyes. Also no noise or feeling. Now I have a headache and just generally feel weird. I know if it was a bat my bf would have seen it too because he was right next to me. OCD sucks. It’s been over 4 years and absolutely countless rabies scares and not one has even been close to being true. It just keeps rearing its ugly head. We’ll be okay

 

[River2424]

It sounds like your fear and anxiety might be amplifying this situation. Based on what you've shared, it seems more likely that this is your Rabies OCD acting up rather than an actual encounter with a bat. Your mind seems to be connecting unrelated events—the shadow, the sting, and the marks—into a narrative driven by your fear.
Bats are not silent creatures; they usually make noises like fluttering or clicking sounds, especially if they are near or in contact with a person. Their movements are noticeable, as they're not as stealthy as your anxiety might lead you to believe. The fact that you didn’t see or hear anything strongly suggests that this wasn’t a bat encounter.
The pinprick marks or scratches could have come from so many other things, such as brushing against something sharp earlier without realizing it, or even minor skin irritation. Anxiety can make these coincidences feel like more than they are, especially when it latches onto the “what-ifs.”
You're not alone in these struggles, and it's important to remind yourself that your fears do not define reality. It might help to reconnect with grounding techniques, talk to someone you trust, or work with a therapist who can guide you through managing these intrusive thoughts.

Appreciate for answering. Yeah, I read somewhere that to battle this OCD, you have to sit with the uncertainty rather than feeding your compulsions, going outside, checking the mailbox, around, etc. It's hard knowing that although my city does not see bats and there is no evidence that I have seen, heard, or felt a bat, my mind does not want to escape it cause I've felt a sting, seen a shadow 2 times, and found marks on my finger. I also heard that they are not silent, and make fluttering noises when near humans, like little birds, but there are instances on google that that is wrong and they are indeed "ninjas".

I hope this is again my rabies ocd and this is the last time that this happens. I was at peace for 2 months but it did not last. Thanks for answering again