I want to share my situation in case anyone else is going through something similar.

Since last semester, I began to notice a bad odor at school. I kept thinking, is it me? Is it the building? Is it someone else in the class? All this overthinking led me to believe that it was me. I kept telling myself, it doesn’t make sense that it’s me. I constantly shower and have good hygiene but I’m getting this smell. I often smell-checked myself and it got to the point where I ended up asking people around me if I smelled. I asked my family, my friends, even strangers and they all said I didn’t. My family and friends told me that if I did they would tell me. I felt like I was going crazy because the smell seemed so realistic!

The smell issue has worsened to the point where I can’t be in a classroom because I am afraid I am going to smell and stink up the whole class. If someone rubs their nose or coughs, I assume it is because of me. I hardly go out and when I do go out it’s usually to eat. I always make sure I get seated in an isolated area.

I’ve been told that the smell might come from the buildings at school or maybe it’s just a hallucination but in the moment, it seems so real. What I’ve noticed, though, is that the smell only occurs at school for the most part. When I’m at home, I don’t smell it.

Aside from the smell issue, I suffer from anxiety and depression and I think the smell issue has made it worse. Because of my anxiety (and when I am not worried about smelling), I get really anxious and paranoid, my hands get really numb, my heart starts raising and I feel like I am going to pass out. When in class, I often feel like I am going to pee or poop my pants AND my anxiety has actually made me believe that I have because sometimes I feel it. I also get this smell of urine and sometimes excrement so I get scared that I had an accident and I run to the bathroom only to realize I did not pee or poop my pants. I haven’t gone to class for two weeks and as an engineering major, it’s really affecting my school life.

I finally decided to go see a psychologist and he referred me to a psychiatrist. I was prescribed some meds today and I am planning on starting to take them today and see how it affects me. If anyone has gone through a similar situation or is going through one right now, please feel free to comment some advice or experience you’d like to share.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post and hear me out.