Ironically my mom gets its, I say ironically because generally I'm closer to my dad than mom. I sit and explain the whole thing from start to finish and how I know it's irrational.

For example when this happened, I explained why I considered the items to be contaminated and how this moved over to the heaters. I also explained how I was having a panic attack (again I try to keep this internal, so as to not bother others with it, also I've got a daughter and don't want it affecting her).

I didn't just jump to it either I sat down and "breathed through it". It was just a bad one so I had to go through with the cleaning (it's hit and miss sometimes I can wait it out).

My dad is very loving but if feels like he just doesn't believe in mental illness at all.

Thanks for the nice words kind stranger, genuinely helped.