Hello everyone. I hope you are doing well today. Is there anyone on here with so-ocd that is also Christian??? If so has it ever made you doubt your faith?? Also how do you deal with it and lastly are you in therapy??
Hello, I’m Christian and this is my primary subtype but have dealt with many other subtypes that are taboo. The intrusive thoughts that come along are the opposite of your values, so that’s where the distress comes in because it’s not who you are and they go against what you believe. I’m currently in therapy and have had flare ups even though I’ve made huge progress. My therapist told me that at your core you won’t change as a person because your values will remain the same even if you work through ERP (gold standard) for OCD. It is challenging but you HAVE to to lean into the uncertainty of not knowing, the potential of the worst case scenario happening (even though OCD blows everything out of proportion) and you’d be surprised how efficient it works. I was a true skeptic, but thankfully therapy has been very effective. At points I did doubt my faith or if my morals where changing, but the doubt also kicks in when you’re more anxious. When you’re at peace you’ll be able to see things clearly. I highly recommend therapy if you have the chance.
Thank you for responding.
@polishgirl Correct, but in SO-OCD, especially if you’re a Christian, what you probably value is your faith and or the family unity. Therefore, you’re more afraid of disappointing God and or your family in fear of the beliefs that you might hold rather than the actual sexual orientation. It might also be harder to expose yourself to uncertainty if you were taught that the Christian faith promotes the standard nuclear family between a mother and a father and there’s no in between, so in OCD it can be challenging to accept the thoughts because your Christian values may be black and white thinking. Just like a homosexual can have intrusive thoughts about being heterosexual and have great distress, it’s looking at the core of the fear. What is truly what’s causing anxiety? At the end of the day, you have to lean into the uncertainty of saying “maybe I’m gay or maybe I’m straight” and go along with it even with the distress that may accompany it, at your core you know what you are, but OCD will still make you doubt and you will just continue the cycle if you actually want the 100% certainty. The only way you’ll be able to gain peace and see clearly is if you’re not bothered by the thought even if it’s an intrusive thought telling you the opposite of what you know.
Hello. I am so sorry I have one more question. As I have gone through this form of ocd I made sure to separate my faith from it as i didn't want it to make it worse. Did you do the same?? Did your faith worsen your condition??
@polishgirl I see. I never associated my faith with it and for whatever reason my mind had started conflating the two together so I am in a bit of a bind with excess rumination
Comment deleted by user
I also have the same fear. And it is impacting my faith a lot.
@polishgirl Sure
@polishgirl No I do not
I was raised Christian, have pure obsessional OCD and the church caused in me a lot of anger, frustration and heartache.
So I’m not sure how many/if any of you are Christians, but I’m assuming this can still make sense to some of you. This morning has been rough. I’m constantly thinking, “am I saved? Have I never been saved and I’m tricking myself into thinking I am? When I’m listening to Christian music am I doing for the right reasons? Is it too late for me?”. Things I know the truthful answers to but yet I still think these thoughts. I don’t understand why. Why do I constantly think about these “what if”’s? My heart always feels so heavy and I feel as if I need to talk to God right then and there to make it stop and go away. But then am I talking to the Lord for the wrong reasons? And the cycle repeats. Thankfully, day one of my therapy is tonight and I’m hoping to find at least a little clarity on this stuff. I’ve had OCD for 7 years and I don’t even know how it works. Any advice?
Hi everyone. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for dealing with religious OCD. I'm a Christian and I struggle with Harm OCD but then somehow, my religious beliefs got mixed into this where I am suddenly asking all these questions on whether God/Jesus is even good. And as a result, I feel so distant from my faith which makes dealing with my harm OCD so much harder 😢 Any advice would be appreciated.
Please help anyone else here with Religious ocd and is a Christian? My brain is going hay-wire and want to know I'm not alone... what do your thoughts say and how do you overcome compulsions? Im going through a rough moment and feel sick with anxiety and stiff. I want to obey God but my thoughts won't stop. I surrender to the Lord and then I have peace with the compulsions and they go away but the thoughts are the scary part please - is this spiritual or is it mental? Or is it both? Would love to hear a Christians opinion on this... because my thoughts latch on and won't dissappear but I know that the Bible commands us to take control of our thoughts and to renew our minds...yet God has grace for this and mercy for our every need... I know God is in control (completely) and my mind creates a lot of the issues for me without any spiritual stuff (it's a very powerful thing) but it's still scary. Lord help me, I surrender myself to you Jesus, counsel my soul and help me.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
