May Jesus give you rest. Call on his name and lay down for a moment and practice a deep breathing meditation. Breathe in for 4 seconds and let out. Tense all your muscles and then release them. Say as you feel exactly with no filter and ask Him for grace to ride the wave of distress you are currently feeling. He knows you all too well and knows what you need if you just ask and ask for patience to endure and be sustained. Know that you need to be practical as well to aid your health and cannot rely on prayer to become compulsion, say the prayers and let it be, see it as a practice in faith and uncertainty to sustain you in the long term. Uncertainty is uncomfortable but it is needed to let the anxiety lose its hold on the mind. Perhaps try to call a loved one and even better visit them and greet them with love and then ask to speak about your struggles. This allows rapport to be built and not a dependence on the person and joy for future visits! Take a walk or jog and you’ll be amazed at the endorphins released as you listen to a credible science based proven self help podcast or calm playlist. The lump in your bottom throat or the acid reflux, the tight chest feeling, sweaty palms, stomach distress, the pounding heart, panicked running of your feet are all physiological and can make you feel uneasy but it will pass if you just ground yourself for a moment and let it “float”. Your amygdala (brain part responsible for fear and danger) is the main culprit causing a false alarm for danger that you’re experiencing. It’s great how aware our minds can be but let’s not let it become too sensitive to stimulation. By “float” imagine the thoughts (the obsessions) in your head racing by very fast like arrows. You get so caught up trying to avoid the arrows (compulsions to alleviate stress) that you end up losing sight that you were never in danger. The arrows must fly by and be gone for if you pay attention to much to your thoughts and engage compulsions to alleviate your stress the more the fear will hit the bullseye. Be still and know you are safe and all will pass. OCD is a loop that needs to be disrupted and redirected imagine it like a toy stuck walking into a wall and the focus needs to be then redirected to a new direction, new behavior and new beliefs. By constantly giving the OCD what it wants it only gets hungrier and hungrier like bully. OCD is incredibly diverse as you know, so imagine the stress you feel or the “impending doom” to be like an ocean wave coming at you and you’ve yet to get on your surfboard. The wave crashes and tosses you about but you are not drowned but perplexed more so. But eventually the wave passes and the sun warms your skin and gives you peace as you float on the surface. I wrote this post as a form of encouragement and personal experience with OCD for many years now (approx 17 years) that I have struggled seemingly alone but never truly alone. Christ will give you hope to be sustained and I believe He has told me to share his message with others and the world. Emotions are good but they cannot be the basis for your life decisions and well being because emotions change very quickly to be unproductive and misinterpreted. May God bless you and keep you all in His love. I know I will be praying for you all for I know what it’s like. 😊 You will be strong and prosperous. Look up the verse on the Bible Jeremiah 29:11 ( hint: your creator loves you more than you can fathom and accepts you in all your circumstances and condition) he will be with you forever. God love you all