Hi everyone. I’m new to this and I don’t know if this would be the right place to share this but my first encounter with OCD was when I had my first intrusive thought around the age of 12. The thought was “God is stupid” and I couldn’t stop crying that whole night. It was the craziest thing ever. How my mind went from normal to abnormal in just a flash was terrible yet fascinating. I’m a Christian and always wondered why God would let such a strong and intense disorder enter my mind. One of the most strengthening things that someone told me was that these thoughts were not “me”. As in, these thoughts are not my fault. I believed and ever since, I was slowly able to conquer such as crazy disorder. Other issues I had was my mom not understanding it. It feels even more rough that your parents don’t really know it because they don’t experience it. But I’m here to say that God has helped me gain control of my mind overtime and I believe he didn’t give me a disorder. He gave me a gift. I just needed to learn how to control it, that’s all. God Bless and Shalom❤️

hey yall!! i’m new to this app and it’s so comforting to see many others share similar experiences that i’ve went through to start this off, my ocd rooted from religion when i was around 9 years old. i have a huge family, mostly catholic, so growing up i believed in god due to my surroundings (they were never forceful w religion). it began with intrusive thoughts like “do ___ or you’ll go to hell” or intrusive thoughts that would make me do things or else i’d be disrespecting god which, as a child, terrified me. then it went on to my extreme fear of germs. i would wash my hands constantly and use hand sanitizer every second to a point where my hands were cracked and bleeding. i had to see a dermatologist in order for the skin on my hands to go back to normal. growing up my intrusive thoughts became extremely overwhelming (especially as a teenager), having to do with sexuality, not knowing if what i remembered was real or if my mind was making it up, relationship ocd, thoughts ab me/ a loved one being harmed, ocd about sexual things, etc etc. i always felt so gross bc of these things as i had thought that i was the only one who experienced this. i’m so glad i’ve found a community where so many of us can relate to these things, as i feel so comfortable and not alone. i’m currently still a teenager and have managed to handle my intrusive thoughts a little better, but i do have an extreme amount of anxiety as well, a lot of it surrounding those intrusive thoughts. i can’t really get therapy due to personal reasons but i’m grateful i can vent in a safe space:) i feel so welcomed on this app, i hope all of you are well <3

So, this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But eight years ago after getting out of the military. I was very ill, my walking around weight now is 219-225 I love food. At that time I was 159 I thought I had cancer I couldn’t keep food down. I spent more time going to that bathroom than living. The VA thought it would be good to put me on muscle relaxers, it did the opposite affect. It made me worse almost to the point where I almost lost control and took my own life. Fast forward eight years later and the fear of losing control is what is consistently on my mind. I do rituals to make sure the door is locked, I have to watch my groceries at all times because I feel like someone might poison me. I have to put my clothes on a certain way or else I feel like I might lose control. So, this is my life right now I had my first appointment today and I can feel some light at the end of the tunnel. I know erp therapy is going to be rough. But I just want my life back. To all suffering from this terrible thing called ocd keep fighting and turn to God, it really does help me when the anxiety kicks up. Love you all and remember the valley is only temporary and the sun shines brightest at the peak. Don’t give up.

I gave my life to Jesus Christ in July/August(i dont remember the exact date), everything was fine up until this point. This is something I've dealt with before I met Christ. I dont want to leave God because of this and I keep finding myslef being isolated and I don't know how to properly handle this. I keep getting really bad intrusive thoughts and I've prayed, rebuked, did a deliverance prayer, read the bible, everything. I prayed to God about how lost I felt and I just couldn't understand why this was happening, then he revealed to me that I am dealing with OCD, so I did some research on it. Does anyone have advice for this? 🙏🏻🤍