Really bad ocd stage about getting hiv from dirty needle?

Question

Hi to all that read, This is going to sound really silly, but i have a real bad case of ocd at the moment where i think i gonna get hiv from accidentally stepping on a dirty needle on the floor, or by getting some blood on me from someone who is infected. I know this is just my ocd an i take medication for it. But what are the actual chances of getting hiv from a dirty needle that was left on the floor??

Thanks to everyone that's answer,

Answer 1

im gonna say theres a 99% chance you wont step on an infected needle  

Answer 2

i'm scared of needles period but you should be safe I'd think the chances of getting pricked by a used syringe would be more than a million to one.

Answer 3

Pretty slim i would say. they dont stand upright, and you can see them easily. also, where are you walking to stand on needles?  

Answer 4

That really depends on how long the needle has been there. HIV can only exist outside it's favoured environment for a short amount of time so it would need to be fairly fresh. (i.e. you'd need to be sharing the needle so that you deliver the virus directly into your own blood stream) Also, how likely is it that you will a, step on a dirty needle. b, Be in close enough contact (i.e. intimate contact) with an infected person? Even if splashed by blood from an infected person you'd still need to have had an open wound or something so that the blood could get into you in a short enough space of time for the virus to survive. It's actually a lot more difficult to contract HIV than people think. (though the stupid amongst us still ignore the advice given and don't practice safe s*x etc.)

Is that really an OCD? Sounds more like a phobia to me.

Answer 5

Just wear shoes all the time, surely that will help with your anxiety? Unless there is a needle stood vertically on the ground it's not going to get through your shoes (and even then, it's very unlikely).

Answer 6

I wouldn't worry about that, there's a million other things out there that will kill you.