- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
Hey. I went to a ton of priests over the years and while some were able to offer temporary comfort, my fear always came back, because it wasn’t something that could be solved by spiritual counsel. It’s a physical issue, a malfunction in my brain that is going to continue to cause doubt no matter what I do to try and allay it. The one priest who finally actually helped me was the one who’d suffered from mental illness himself, and told me to go get help and do whatever it took to get well from my illness, that that was what God wanted from me. That was my turning point, and I am still so grateful to Fr M for recognizing that my biggest spiritual problem...wasn’t actually spiritual. Love and best wishes in overcoming this. 💜💜
- Date posted
- 4y
Thank you for your intrest. I think I need to see a priest, honestly. Get it told first hand, with authority that I won't lose my soul over missed mantras. It's hard to do ERP with your immortal soul on the line is all. How have you learned to cope?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
Do you think you’ll lose your soul right? What are your mantras?
- Date posted
- 4y
@GJ7 I touch all four sides of the computer screen with my mouse, as if I were making the sign of the cross, and repeat to myself that 'all good things come from God, thank you God for all good things' in response to just about everything. Because if I don't, my brain drives me down all sorts of paths where the Devil is the one providing whatever it is I'm looking for and my soul is forfeit. Then I repeat three times, as to hit 4 total repeats (4 being the most even and balanced number as the result of two to the power of 2. Sometimes I'll be repeating myself to 256 (four to the fourth power) to purge myself of the evil intrusive thoughts trying to make me a bad person and steal my soul. It's rough.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@Spooksman What I remember is that my soul doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to God! So you can forfeit something that is not yours. Also I remember the Bible verse, “Do not be afraid I am with you” and “I go before you always”. God knows and understands what you are dealing with.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
Hi I’ve had thoughts that I’ve traded my soul. Maybe I can help you?
- Date posted
- 4y
So when that priest gives you reassurance, how many more priests do you need to see before you are sure? Truth is you can never be sure. This is classic OCD.
- Date posted
- 4y
Gotta have hope right? The meds can only take you so far if you don't seek your own answers.
- Date posted
- 4y
@Spooksman I think seeking answers about our obsessions is pretty much a compulsion. I mean I would very much like to know if my family and friends hate me. For someone without ocd it would be fine to get some reassurance. But for me it would be compulsive. I have to live with not having the answers.
- Date posted
- 4y
@asdfghj Maybe you're right, but seeking religious comfort to help with sickness is time-honored too. Would it hurt?
- Date posted
- 4y
@Spooksman Yes it could. Priests are not trained in treating OCD. What you mentioned about is not mantras it is rituals. Compulsive rituals to neutralize your anxiety about being a bad person. Priests dont help with that. OCD specialists and ERP helps.
- Date posted
- 4y
@asdfghj I wasn't trying to imply religion could replace proper therapy, sorry. But in addition?
- Date posted
- 4y
@Spooksman Im not saying religion is wrong. But reassurance seeking can hurt. Its like: most people seek reassurance sometimes from their priest, mother or boyfriend right. And that makes me think I should be able to do it too. But to me asking my bf if he loves me is a compulsion even though other normal people does it. So I should refrain as it most likely is compulsive.
- Date posted
- 4y
@Spooksman And I didnt mean to imply you said youd replace therapy with a priest. But my point is if you do start compulsions your priest could engage in it. And even encourage it because they dont know OCD.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w
Hi everyone, I haven’t posted in a while—about 6 months—but I’m really struggling and need some help or advice. I thought I had healed from all of this, or at least I was doing so much better. I have never felt this before but it feels like I’m slipping back into something I can’t control. Right now, it feels like I’m stuck in a bad reality. It’s like I’m trapped with my dad in one reality, and I’m trying to get back to the other where I’m with my family, but I can’t. It’s so hard to explain, but everything around me feels unreal, and my mind keeps telling me I’m stuck. It feels so real, and I don’t know how to get out of it. It’s like I’ve been transported to another world, and I can’t break free. nd now I’m scared I’ll never come back to the “good” reality I had before. and I genuinely believe this. I’ve been struggling with these thoughts about spiritual realms, the devil, and spiritual warfare. My dad has always talked about these things, and he’s gone through psychosis before. He’s also had a history of doing a lot of drugs, and now I’m terrified that I might end up like him. I fear that I’m somehow becoming like him, trapped in that same mental space he’s been in. He talks about spiritual stuff that scares me, and I can’t shake the thought that I might be losing myself the same way he did. I know this might sound weird, but I feel like I’m getting closer to that line, and I don’t know how to stop it. I keep feeling like I’ll never come back to the way things were, like I’ll always be stuck in this distorted reality. I’m afraid of losing myself, especially in my faith. I believe in God, but my thoughts and fears about all of this are making it hard to feel connected to Him. I feel so distant from God right now, and it’s hard to see how this can change. Has anyone else experienced something like this—feeling like you’re trapped between realities, afraid of becoming someone you don’t want to be, or struggling with fears like this? How did you cope? I just need some hope that I can get through this and come back to a better place. I’m scared, and I feel like I can’t escape this. Any advice would really mean a lot right now.
- Date posted
- 18w
the concept of death & existence is ruining my life rn 😭 im losing so much sleep. i try to close my eyes & all my brain wants to do is try to wrap itself around the idea of what not existing feels like & i get this sinking feeling that grows & grows until my eyes snap open & i have to go back on my phone to distract myself until im literally too exhausted to keep my head up & my body forces me to sleep. it makes having the motivation to do anything hard because all i can think is "it wont matter when i die". it sucks because i know that having MORE in my life might actually improve this, im 21 unemployed still living at home with ASD & i know once i have a job that will definitely give me more to focus on & other stresses to have lol, but i feel like im stuck in the endless cycle of "not having a life makes me worried im wasting my life & itll all be over so fast" & then "being so stressed about my life & time passing is exhausting & makes it too hard to find the motivation to do anything other than sit here" & repeat. spirituality is hard because i like thinking that way, like afterlife & shit, but i worry that im just "in denial" & using it as an unhealthy coping mechanism that leads to magical thinking thoughts. then its like i have some sort of meta ocd spiral obsessing over if what im doing is bad & unhealthy for my ocd or not. i LIKE being spiritual but im worrying im hurting myself & doing a compulsion thinking that way. it also doesnt help that religious spaces have hurt & traumatized so many people & im terrified of being apart of a "delusional" community that spreads a false narrative & attacks anyone that doesnt agree with them. i know i am not like that but i worry im still apart of the problem even thinking this way. at the end of the day no one knows the truth, no one knows what happens after death. im just struggling to sit with the uncertainty. it is so late rn idk of any of my words make sense lol
- Date posted
- 17w
Sorry, I know I keep posting on here but it’s like a diary for me. The people on here seem to be the only people that understand what I’m going through. With my obsession about death, the afterlife, and whether or not there is a God, I’ve been going crazy with the compulsions lately. My brain keeps saying things like “If [insert random insignificant event, ex: a red car drives by] within the next 30 seconds, it‘s a sign from God that he is real.” Or there’s the ruminating, where I try to comfort myself by saying that there has to be a God, and that we have to have a greater purpose, and I’ll think about it for hours. I know it’s illogical and ridiculous but regardless it’s absolutely dreadful to feel this way. I have hope after seeing some people say they’ve learned to cope with and have recovered from that feeling of existential dread and the compulsions that can come with it and still be able to find joy in their lives. I hope that soon I can find that joy again. The past three days I’ve lived in a constant state of anxiety and misery. I’ve completely lost my appetite and I physically have to force myself to eat (and I’m a big binge eater that only recently went into recovery for BED so that’s saying a LOT.) The only time I feel at peace is literally when I’m sleeping, or those rare fleeting moments where I somehow am not thinking about it. I haven’t really felt any emotions in depth except for this feeling of utter hopelessness. I hope I can move past this, find comfort in restoring my relationship with religion again without using it as a compulsion, and just live my life accepting that there are some things we’ll simply never know without letting it ruin my life.
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