4 challenges for OCD Recovery

[Boxers1]

I found this article extremely helpful in reminding me of the cognitive therapy techniques to recover from OCD. Wherever the article talks about obsessions, remember this works for religious obsessions too b/c the issue is not the content of the obsessions. The issue is the anxiety disorder. I hope some of you will find it helpful too.

http://www.anxieties.com/ocd-four.php

Boxers1

 

[dizzydoll]

I found this article extremely helpful in reminding me of the cognitive therapy techniques to recover from OCD. Wherever the article talks about obsessions, remember this works for religious obsessions too b/c the issue is not the content of the obsessions. The issue is the anxiety disorder. I hope some of you will find it helpful too.

http://www.anxieties.com/ocd-four.php

Boxers1

Thank you so much. It will be on my desktop!

 

[ObsessedButBlessed]

Boxers, you couldn't have posted this at a more perfect time! I love what the article has to say about trying to out-logic our OCD:

Try not to get into a battle of logic in your head. If you try to convince yourself of how illogical your worries are, you may become very frustrated, because you'll have a hard time being certain about anything. You'll always find a thread of doubt you can follow. So don't get caught in this trap of logic. Instead, keep stepping back mentally and saying, "I need to be addressing my anxiety, not this specific topic".

I was definitely obsessing last night and I fought the urge to get online to search for reassurance. It was really hard, but all I could do was pray that God would help me through it. But this battle of logic is where OCD gets me a lot of the time. It's like it just DARES us to ignore the thoughts because they are obviously very valid (to OCD).

Thanks for posting this!

 

[kaykay637]

This IS a good article, Boxers. Thanks for posting it. It summarizes alot of the advice we give each other here on this forum. Blessings-
kaykay

 

[gracealone]

I found this article extremely helpful in reminding me of the cognitive therapy techniques to recover from OCD. Wherever the article talks about obsessions, remember this works for religious obsessions too b/c the issue is not the content of the obsessions. The issue is the anxiety disorder. I hope some of you will find it helpful too.

http://www.anxieties.com/ocd-four.php

Boxers1

Great Article Boxers! I really like the emphasis on accepting our obsessions by not fighting against them anymore -that it's OK for them to be there.
I'm currently reading Bunyan's book about his battle with religious OCD. It's just amazing to me how many of his OCD thoughts followed the same paths that mine have.
But even without knowing he had OCD he finally figured out how to just let go. He learned to do the very thing this article is talking about - to just let the thoughts be there and not fight them anymore. He accepted his thoughts & feelings of uncertainty and doubt and then just walked around them in his resolve to follow and serve Christ. He learned to do exposure/response without even knowing he was doing it. What a great encouragement this has been to me!
Here's the quote I loved best.
"Twas my duty to stand to His word, whether He would ever look upon me or no, or save me at the last: wherefore, thought I, the point being thus, I am for going on, and venturing my eternal state with Christ, whether I have comfort here or no; if God doth not come in, thought I , I will leap off the ladder even blindfolded into eternity, sink or swim, come heaven, come hell,; Lord Jesus, if thou wilt catch me, do; if not, I will venture for thy name."
He finally gave up his continual search for reassurance about the content of his obsessions. He just looked them squarely in the face and accepted their presence. Then he shifted his focus to doing all that he could to serve Christ to the best of his ability.
Just wanted to share that. I didn't mean to hijack the thread and hope that everyone will take time to read this most helpful article.
God Bless,
Mitzi