Mistakes from the past have been constantly haunting me for the last year of my life. I wake up reminded about them and go to sleep reminded about them. I wouldn’t wish this on ANYONE. This has definitely been the absolute worst season of my life and I was close to losing it but I held on to God. Is anyone else experiencing this or has experienced this. Please help. Please.
This has always been a big factor with my ocd and I feel for you so much, It is absolutely horrible to go through. Try to remember there isnt a person in this world that goes through life without making mistakes, little or big, harmless or harmful and the vast majority of those mistakes and actions we make as children and young adults when we know no better and dont have the perspective or hindsight to see how our actions affect others. It is all part of life. The important part is that if we have made a mistakes in the past, We have learned from them as so not to repeat them, Which you obviously have. So many people go through life repeating mistakes and hurting others without ever having a second thought. You can pride yourself on being a better person as a result of past actions. I would try looking at your past mistakes not as mistakes but experiences that serve as purpose in making you a better person. I hope this helps even a little! Remember we are not our thoughts and you are not alone.
@SeanUK88 I’ve been feeling similar things as the initial post and I really love your response! Looking at mistakes as experiences is really helpful.
@SeanUK88 This helped so much man thank you. I’ve been walking around for almost a year with a tight chest and sour feeling in my stomach I just pray that this will end.
@PraisingtheLord I’m really glad you could take something from my reply. I have been there myself and as far as ocd topics go, Personally its the worst as it makes you doubt your self worth. It will pass I promise! We all deserve to live and enjoy our lives, We as ocd sufferers tend to pass judgement on ourselves and put ourselves in a mental prison and tell ourselves we do not deserve to be happy as a result of past actions but that actually couldnt be further from the truth. We take accountability and learn from our mistakes and become better people as a result. Remember to be kind to yourself and show yourself compassion.
I’ve had this happen to me recently too! It never crossed my mind until I went through old texts with friends. I found things I COMPLETELY forgot about from YEARS AGO and it was embarrassing to re read… I started to obsess over the idea of people finding those messages today, making me feel like some fraud/hypocrite of the person I’ve always aimed to be. What I try to remind myself of is that sometimes good people do or say bad things it’s a part of life. Also I believe that context matters, some mistakes that are extreme are obviously beyond repair. I don’t think it’s fair to put ourselves in the same category as bad people who do catastrophic things and never change their ways.
This is a very common thing for OCD to latch onto. This episode will pass. Remember that ruminating on the things you feel are symptoms is only worsening the cycle. Writing down an imaginal script of a “worst case scenario” has helped me a lot. It can be scary to face, but that’s the point. It’s also helpful to write it all down in one straightforward story because otherwise my OCD will bounce around different parts of my imagined scenario. I then read this story several times, eventually it will start to lose its impact on you. Once it starts to lesson the key is to not give these thoughts any further ground. Let them pass like clouds in your brain, that’s all thoughts are after all. This is what works for me. I imagine it’s a very hard scenario to be in but you’re going to get through this, just like you’ve gotten through all other past episodes. Good luck!
Yes. Bad thoughts from the past is what happened to me. I’m 65 and I have a guilt and shame over a thought I had 40 years ago, yes, a thought! I know God has forgiven me and He wants me to let go and trust Him but it still haunts me every now and again. OCD has a knack of reminding you about things that bothered you last night before going to bed and waking up to OCD’S alarm to say remember me? It’s an insidious brain disorder that makes us believe everything bad about ourselves, that I wish there was a cure for. I’m glad you held on to your faith because I would’ve never made it this far without God. He is with us through the thick and thin of our problems but you feel like why can’t he heal me or take it away? All I know is that God has a plan for each and every one of us that we are being made stronger for that plan. It’s frustrating but if you can trust God with it, (which is hard to do), He will give you the peace that surpasses all understanding. Give it a try. Hang in there!
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
