I'm a Christian, my faith is very important to me. I have a small men's group I have been meeting with for almost two years. We communicate on GroupMe. I mention my need for OCD treatment and I can almost hear their gasps. Very disheartening how judgemental people can be all over the place. Like we're making this stuff up. Like if I was a "real believer" I wouldn't need this. Anyone experience this?
Oh yes, a friend flat out told me “why do you feel like this, you have God, right?” - Great…now I have OCD AND I’m a bad Christian, thanks. I’m always comforted that at least God knows what I’m going through. He sees exactly what happens in the brain. And after all the bouts of OCD and therapy my attitude is more like I know who I can talk to about this stuff and with who I can’t. (There’s christians in both groups btw) This is just a suggestion, so take or leave what you want from this: If this group is really important to you and you consider them part of your support system, and you think they’re a bit “coachable” then you could offer to tell them some information about OCD. (If you can do it in person or on video/audio that could probably help more than text) Keep it pretty factual and explain what happens in the brain and how obsessions and compulsions work. You could then share a bit on how it is hindering you in your life and, ideally, what you’d need from them. Like encouragement in your therap, for example. Then maybe there’s some guys who will listen and learn and maybe some that can’t let go of their prejudice about therapy. Not sure what kind of people they are. But maybe one or two would be able to understand you better and support you?
Thank you!!! This was the most encouraging, Christ like, and wise response I could've imagined getting.
@Mike in PA I'm also reminded of the "renew your mind" passages. It never says your mind renews itself. :-)
@Mike in PA no problem. I hope it works out for you and your group!
@Mike in PA I love that! And why wouldn’t God give us therapy to help us? I surely thank Him for it.
And what I loved about what hen7 said prior is that I saw my anger towards their misunderstanding to be judgemental as well and it's an opportunity for God to use me to open their eyes a little bit. If not, it won't be a positive support group for me. This is brand new to me.
@Mike in PA good luck! These things are hard, but they can be really worth it in the long run.
You are accepted by Christ, my friend. I don't like to talk about my anxiety or ROCD with my church family because I don't think they would understand.
As a Christian man myself who’s still learning BUT still an imperfect sinner too, this has been one of the greatest…fallacies as you may, about the faith. I always viewed God as a taskmaster to be pleased, a leader who needs to obey the laws or else…and so on. And that’s now what it’s supposed to be! It’s not supposed to be about following orders, or in other words, a following based off fear, it’s about something that we preach in ERP, which is reliving control of what we cannot control to God and let Him transform us from the inside out to be more Christ-like as best we can, outside of our sin and falling short at times. I believe the Christian faith has been taught to follow what the church and the church leaders say as opposed to what the Bible says, and that creates this mindset of following God like laws needing to be followed or else, or a legalistic belief system to put into better words. I’m saying all of this because this way of either following God or those who look at Christians from the outside, believe things like that. “Where is your God when this or that happened?” “Your faith isn’t good enough if you’re bothered by anxiety so just pray harder”. That’s now how it is at all! Either you have faith or you don’t! There’s not supposed to be “levels” to it, no “good” or “bad” Christian, and even as we follow Christ, our faith will always be tested as we face temptations in our world AND we will still face hardships while here on Earth, too. And that’s okay, it’s all normal, albeit uncomfortable and scary at times. So my final point here is, don’t be discouraged by what your current Christian friends say. Just because they identify as Christians but make you feel inadequate as a Christian yourself doesn’t mean you need to keep hanging around with them. Think of it as someone who wants to leave a church because the leader or pastor is preaching a message that doesn’t align with the Bible
@Recoverer …(continuing on from my last comment) and so you go to worship God at a different church! The point of faith is to follow Jesus and let God in, not to please others who proclaim the same thing but may have different values or interests at heart and it impacts you negatively as a whole.
@Recoverer *which is relieving control of what we cannot control
@Recoverer *i’m saying all of this because of either those following God or those who look at Christians
@Recoverer Amen!
Look up Mark DeJesus on YouTube. He also has a website- Markdejesus.com. He's a believer who healed from all forms of OCD. He's awesome.
Will do, thank you!!!
I've been watching his stuff on YouTube. Very awesome!!! It's like he understands what I go through perfectly. Thanks again!
@Mike in PA He does understand. He lived it. I'm grateful I found his materials.
Hi. I just signed up for NOCD today and this is my first ever post. The issue you mentioned is so common it is sad. I just published a book called Waging War Against OCD - A Christian Approach to Victory. You can find it on Amazon and other places. Chapter 5 deals with this issue as well as how Christians are very quick to judge taking medication for OCD. Christians have no problem with people taking insulin to regulate blood sugar levels in the body for diabetes. However, taking a medication to regulate serotonin in the brain is somehow forbidden, even though OCD is a medically proven issue. Yes it is more complicated, as the brain and mind are related to each other - but large portions of the Christian Church is very uninformed on the issue. Anyways, I hope you find this helpful, and please check out my website WagingWarAgainstOCD.com
Hi! I am a christian and since not too long I have been having terrible intrusive thoughts that I have no intention to act on!! I feel so condemned though...
@Wachtwoord7 Oh yes, OCD loves to question God’s goodness and overestimate our responsibilities and things like danger and general awfulness. You can trust God to help you with your OCD and not condemn you.
@hen7 Hi! Thank you!! But I am so afraid to secretly be a terrible monster or to "want" bad thoughts.. But I hate them, I really do
I'm going through the same thing! Look up Mark DeJesus on YouTube, he speaks to this very thing. I'm so thankful for @Sunshineflowers7 pointing him out to me!
@Wachtwoord7 This fear is very common with ocd.
There is a quote from Hannah Whitall Smith that I love. It's lengthy, but worth the read. I am not saying that OCD thoughts are from Satan, but there are definitely similarities between how OCD creates intrusive thoughts and how Satan tries to condemn us. I hope you find this helpful. It seems hardly worthwhile to say that temptation is not sin, and yet much distress arises from not understanding this fact. The very suggestion of wrong seems to bring pollution with it; and the poor tempted soul begins to feel as if it must be very bad indeed, and very far off from God, to have had such thoughts and suggestions. It is as though a burglar should break into a man’s house to steal, and, when the master of the house begins to resist him and to drive him out, should turn round and accuse the owner of being himself the thief. It is the enemy’s grand ruse for entrapping us. He comes and whispers suggestions of evil to us, – doubts, blasphemies, jealousies, envyings, and pride, and then turns round and says, “Oh, how wicked you must be to think of such things! It is very plain that you are not trusting the Lord; for if you had been, it would have been impossible for these things to have entered your heart.” This reasoning sounds so very plausible that we often accept it as true, and so come under condemnation, and are filled with discouragement.
I’m new to NOCD and was recently diagnosed with having traits of OCD. I’ve yet to start therapy, but I’d like to start to engage with the community and especially with anyone who can relate to what I’m currently experiencing. I’m a spiritually based person and my OCD has latched onto my spirituality, religion and may be making me question my overall reality, etc. This also makes me question whether or not I am experiencing Magical Thinking OCD as well. Can anyone who deals with spirituality, religion and false memory OCD help guide my thoughts and I? I know that we’re not licensed professionals, but I am seeking fellow users who can relate to what I’m currently going through and experiencing because I currently feel alone and like no one else immediately around me can relate. Thanks in advance!
In 2020 I had an episode of psychosis because my ocd was so severe. I can’t/couldn’t pick apart intrusive thoughts from reality and I didn’t understand what was happening to me at the time. I live with so much guilt over what I did during psychosis and while I understand my “reasonings” for things, how I was pushed over the edge, I live with the constant fear of judgement and condemnation from those I love if they ever found out. I am on the way to get medicated again, and I’m starting sessions with NOCD again. But I feel like… I’m breaking apart here. I look in the mirror and I realize that there isn’t any running from who I am. There isn’t a magical cure to make me someone else, I will always have to live with this shame of even being in psychosis in the first place. I believe in God but it’s hard to even sit with myself. I’m safe, I’m just severely depressed. I’m looking for hope and it seems like everyday this disorder just gets a little stronger. It’s slowly chipping away at me. I want to get my life back, have a job, a healthy relationship, but I’m so ashamed and sad… guilty for having lost reality like I did. I’m not looking for reassurance, but encouragement. Am I the only one?
I got diagnosed with OCD a few months ago after getting plagued with intrusive thoughts last November. It’s been present in my life since I was younger but didn’t become truly debilitating until last November. I’ve been in therapy since May, and I started an SSRI. I’m a Christian, and I’ve struggled a lot with my faith since this started. I’ve had a hard time with ERP because I fear it’s not going to help and actually make things worse. I have also had a lot of emotional turmoil from family trauma and marriage issues. I’ve become so hopeless and numb and desensitized that I don’t know how to continue forward. I don’t feel like I’m able to talk to anyone about it because it’s taboo, so I feel like a fraud and like I don’t deserve to do things I enjoy or hang out with people I love. I do want to get better but I also have a fear that I don’t actually want to. I feel like my whole life is ruined and that I’ll never enjoy living again.
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