Does anyone know a Pastor or Priest that has gone through the struggles of OCD and dealt with spiritually fears? I have a family member who could really use some encouragement right now. Even if it's just through zoom.

You guys give me so much hope! Thank you so much! :)

Her name's Missy and she struggles with a fear of blasphemy. Have you ever delt with that fear yourself? I have in the past and I found comfort in talking to a preacher. I think talking on the phone would probably be best for her.

I haven’t dealt with myself but I have had people in the church deal with that as well and have heard of it and know about it and it’s common for ocd take hold of ones believe and to msinifest it into a demonic form it’s all spiritual warfare between light and dark Jesus vs satan almost there where faith and believe take place but I would love to talk to her

She will join the conversation

Yeah

Hey

I have struggled with this in the past and still struggle with religious ocd. It’s hard...but I can tell her this much. If she is that worried she blasphemed God ... she didn’t. If she truly did she wouldn’t be feeling this way. She cares about God or she wouldn’t be worried about it. OCD is feeding her intrusive thoughts that are not her. I have thought a bad word then God a lot ... it’s an ocd intrusive thought. I’ve gotten past this part of religious ocd and now my ocd is making me think about technicalities and questions that idk if there is a concrete answer for. I’m starting ERP to get more help.

I’m very worried because I had blasphemous thoughts and was very fearful of them because I knew they were horrible. Because of this fear I told my sister and my fiancé what they were and said them outloud and now I feel so much worse.

Like what if saying them outloud now means I’ve spoken blasphemies against the Holy Spirit. Or what if it causes my fiancé and my sisters opinion to change and make them think these things.

My sister used to be who I confessed to all the time. We have been through the same thing. She doesn’t view me differently. She just wants me to get better and supports me along the way.

Btw I am 33 and had my first major melt down w ocd at 18...but struggled with it since 1st grade or before ... please get help now so if you get better and it hits again you will be able to stop yourself from getting in a bad place. I should have done therapy a long time ago.

Thank you that is very nice to hear. That’s what my sister keeps saying too, that God knows my heart. I know He does but is still terrifies me. Those lines in the Bible are terrifying. Do you think it makes a difference that I said them outloud? Does that give them meaning?

I’m 27 so it’s been a long road for me too, I should have gotten help a long time ago. It’s worse than it’s ever been now though.

Also have you tried meds? They help me a lot. They calm a lot of the anxiety.

Ok I live in Texas so you wouldn’t be able to see my therapist I don’t think unless you pay cash pay. I’m having to pay cash pay.

I don’t know if you can pay cash pay to see her either since her license is probably from Texas ... but you can schedule a call to see what NOCD is all about and you can browse the therapists online and see which one you feel would meet your needs.

Do you feel better now?

Are you feeling better?

I just keep thinking about it and spiraling. I’m so scared that I’ve said blasphemous things tonight. Because I said I feared that at one point I thought those thoughts may be real.

I don’t know... I’m terrified.

And if everything related to God right now is a trigger, he understands. Just try to get your mind off of it. OCD is the doubting disease. You won’t see clearly while you are spiraling. When you get out of the spiral you will see how silly this thought really is bc you will see your true self.

Gnight! Praying you can get some sleep! I will talk w you more tomorrow if you need me to. Just keep responding to this thread.

I had a thought that made me fearful of my own religion, Christianity. And so when I prayed that night I prayed directly to God. And that’s what I told them but I told them what the thought was and that at the time it made me fearful and I acted on it. Now I’m scared by saying that outloud it is even more blasphemous.

Thanks so much for talking to me tonight!!

You cant control your thoughts, no one can, but you can control how you react to them. God is love and wants you to get better is my belief. You need a therapist who understands Religious ocd. This is a common theme for people with this illness. You cant reason your way out of ocd, you need to do CBT with especially ERP, to get back to feeling happy.

A therapist will explain to you what your brain is doing to you. You will learn how to not let yourself cycle. My compulsions were very similar to you, confessing, repeating things in my head, and reassurance seeking. You will learn how to get past this. Please see someone who specializes in OCD.

As #happiness says, you need a therapist that specialises in OCD and (maybe meds, which can help). You cannot reason, your way out of ocd, it just keeps you running in circles. If you want to recover that is your best option.

Until you can get into therapy, buy the book called the ocd workbook online.

I’m doing okay, I have my first appointment set up so that feels good. But I’m still so stressed out and I am still terrified that I have done something horrible and unforgivable and I keep imagining the worst. :/ how are you doing?

I’ve been struggling some. But we are both going to get through this. We just need a little help :)

Thanks so much for keeping in touch! :] also! Thank you for telling me about the ocd workbook! I have been reading it and it has definitely helped me think about things differently which has helped me feel a bit better. :]

I do some preaching at the church I go to and I know some preachers that can help as well

Hi Mason, yes she would love to talk to you if your up for it. she is kind of at wits end and needs some support. Anytime is good for her. Zoom, phone, Facebook messenger, whatever works best for you

That’s perfectly fine with me can you tell me a little about your sister so I know sorta a back story and her name and all as well and I use Snapchat and can text as well whatever works best for her

Oh that’s really cool, sounds like it would be so helpful. I live in the North East.

No I’ve never tried meds.

How are you doing missie?

I keep cycling between feeling okay and feeling horrified. I’m having a really hard time right now. I just am terrified because I said the horrible thing I was thinking and now I feel like all my chances for forgiveness are gone. It terrified me so much.

I know, thank you guys. You are all really helpful. I reached out to NOCD and they put me on a waitlist for a therapist. Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone know about how long it usually takes to get off the waitlist?

They didn’t put me on a waitlist, but scheduled me with a call to learn the basics of NOCD.

How is missie? I’m too struggling w religious ocd ... but in a little different manner than her.

Missie ... I hope you have a good day. I’m still struggling. We will get better. It’s a process. We are already better than we were :)