I have pure-o and I’m a Christian. My recent fear was worrying my child would die. That turned to what if I abandon my faith. Next was what if Christianity is all a lie...I’m stuck. I’ve tried all my strategies. I can’t even pray or read Scripture normally bc I feel like my brain and heart are disconnected. Anyone have any pointers?

I have a therapist but haven’t gone back in like three years because I am usually fine on my own. This certain obsession just seems extra hard to beat to me. It’s been a week since I’ve been trying. But it might be time to go back. I just want to be able to do it on my own

Are you able to get therapy? That would really help if you haven't gotten it yet, but your therapist really should be an OCD specialist.

Hi there, I’m sorry you’re in distress right now. The “what if” questions are what OCD likes to generate. The gray areas of life, like religion and spirituality, are an easy target for OCD since it can’t be proven or disproven. I’m not religious myself, but I have dealt with a religiosity theme in the past. My best advice would be to recognize that no matter what theme OCD is generating, it’s irelevant. The issue is the OCD, not the fears of uncertainty it’s presenting to you. Undergoing ERP can help you build a tolerance to the uncertainty of whether religion is a lie or not, and in time you can practice your faith while allowing the doubts to be present. Another pointer that helped me was recognizing that if there is a divine being, they can recognize human suffering, and OCD is without a doubt a form of suffering. It’s important to have compassion for yourself, and recognize that OCD likes to hijack what’s most important to you (hence your theme as revolves around your child and your faith), otherwise it wouldn’t cause you the anxiety it does. It’s possible to reach a place of recognizing your OCD as a separate entity from you. It’s not a linear or easy process, but it is doable. I hope this could be of some help.

This is very helpful to me. Separating myself from the ocd is the biggest challenge on this one. I’ve dealt with hocd and that was easier somehow. I’m puzzled as to what new exposures I can do- I’m using imaginal stories right now and those have always worked in the past, so maybe I need to up the intensity on the stories each day instead of reading the same one. Thanks for the encouragement!

Would an example of intensifying the erp be to created a multitude of fearful thoughts that come in my head like: “ maybe I’ve been believing the lie of Christianity all my life. Now I’ll not only reject it but go and tell everyone I reject God.” ...”I’ll soon be an outcast in society, so bring on the consequences, world”. ?