BrownBunE
- Date posted
- 1y ago
Stepping away?
For those who have stepped away from religion, did your OCD and scrupulosity become more manageable? Where you able to stop thinking about spirituality?
ElevenBElevenB
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y ago
For me personally I can't give up on God because He doesn't give up on me. It feels like He has, but that's where I have to trust in what the bible says, He never leaves or forsakes. It's a struggle to go to church, pray, read the Bible, but I take it slow and give myself grace to the best of my ability, because I know it's OCD. That's just my journey, everyone's path is different. But I have to walk mine with God.
BrownBunEBrownBunE
- Date posted
- 1y ago
In some ways it does. Thank you for your honesty. I was majorly triggered by a spiritual event and I don't see how I can continue down this path. I'm tired and confused and not sure what to do.
AnonymousAnonymous
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y ago
For me it helped in the long run, it was very difficult leaving my religion because of the uncertainty of whether or not it could be true, but like with other erp practice that anxiety came down. I think my religion and beliefs contributed a lot to my ocd, so it was one less thing to worry about once I got through the pains of leaving ones previous faith
BrownBunEBrownBunE
- Date posted
- 1y ago
So you still consider yourself a spiritual person or are you an athiest?
AnonymousAnonymous
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y ago
@BrownBunE I consider myself an atheist, not because my ocd drove me away from believing, or that working through my ocd led me away either, I think that was the logical conclusion I would have come to eventually. I think it did help me in my ocd journey because religion just didn’t work for me personally, so being out of it I was able to better focus on my healing journey
jacivyjacivy
- Date posted
- 5w ago
@Anonymous Would you consider atheism to be a kind of curative for OCD. In essence the nature of OCD is similar to the belief in a divine/god/universe and once the belief in god does away OCD goes away too?
AnonymousAnonymous
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 5w ago
@jacivy Unfortunately not, even though becoming atheist did help me reduce and eventually get rid of some of my more prominent themes in OCD, my brain still worked the same way and found other distressing thoughts that caused me anxiety. So while it helped take the edge off a little bit I still had a long journey after becoming atheist :)
Misstama65Misstama65
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 30w ago
It helped a lot. This was my first big ocd theme. It was ruining my life and making it hard for me to care for my family as I was in so much distress all day long. I decided it was better to be agnostic and hope that if there was a god he/she would understand. I had toayve maybe not the whole subject to be honest. After the theme went away I was able to logically decide I truly was agnostic
Related posts
Ellen_l
- Date posted
- 15w ago
Advice?
I’m having a big OCD relapse and would like to hear anyone’s tips on how to be present and healthily deal with these intrusive thoughts and the “need” to preform compulsions. Thank you!!
Andrea Wells
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 14w ago
My OCD Journey
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
Rachel Owsley
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 8w ago
Moral Scrupulosity
When OCD latches onto your morals, it can make you question whether you're a good person, even over small things. Have you ever felt overwhelming guilt over something others would brush off?
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond