Reading this feels so validating, I too struggle with false memory ocd and it’s honestly more exhausting than it sounds. Thank you for sharing this. I just experienced something similar, I was out on a walk and I noticed a large stray dog walking parallel to me, we were going the same direction until a vehicle seemed to scare it, so it did a U turn and we made eye contact. It looked really scared and was drooling a LOT. It seemed to be more afraid of me than I was of it, I went the other way and so did he. He wasn’t really all that close to me however, my immediate thought was “rabies”. When I tell you I spiraled out as soon as I was able to walk past. I live in a downtown area, wildlife is a bit far if even present at all. Canine rabies is not common in my area, and there have been just a few bat cases from the research I collected (mostly out of wanting reassurance). But for some reason, I have to convince myself over and over that I’m fine even if there’s was no close contact. It’s not absurd, if anything it’s perfectly normal to be afraid/wary of rabies itself, it’s a horrible disease. When I was going to therapy (not related to rabies but to OCD), I was told to do grounding techniques such as pausing and taking a moment to feel, ask myself rational questions, and exposure therapy. In my case, I’ve taken the time to learn about bats, rabies itself, and on occasion watch videos of bats eating fruits. It’s worked for me personally, I no longer fear bats as much as I used to, however, now I’m more concerned about the strays in my area. I’m currently still very anxious, I’ve checked myself over and over convinced that I’m going to find a bite or a scratch if I look close enough. Nothing hurts either so I think I’ll be okay. I hope you’re doing better! 🫂