can we really overcome ocd?

[drummingman]

i know that all of us here deal with ocd, and from what i can tell it is tied into our faith and what we love (it is for me). so i have to ask the questin, can we really overcome our ocd? is it really possible to beat ocd and have a life that is not just a life of struggle? can we really achieve our golas in life without the ocd taking that away from us? i know that in my own life i will have 2 or 3 good years and then i go back into the ocd battles in a way that cripples my life and the ocd destroys all of the good things that i have built in the good years. so i am never able to get anywhere. i assume some of you, if not all, have a similar story.
so what can we really do to beat our ocd in a way that will help forever to where we can make real progress in our lives that the ocd cant come a destroy?
im just trying to find out if there really is a way to beat the ocd. i ask this because for me, when its bad, its a struggle that is always changing and getting the best of me on the same issues over and over again (the things that i care about most). i just want to know if we can have real hope of being successful in our lives and careers? i see people that dont have ocd all around me that can achieve their goals and i cant because of my ocd. this really REALLY bothers me and upsets me. so i want to know what all of you that do have ocd think about us being able to beat the ocd.
thanks for your thoughts.

 

[jc9992]

i know that all of us here deal with ocd, and from what i can tell it is tied into our faith and what we love (it is for me). so i have to ask the questin, can we really overcome our ocd? is it really possible to beat ocd and have a life that is not just a life of struggle? can we really achieve our golas in life without the ocd taking that away from us? i know that in my own life i will have 2 or 3 good years and then i go back into the ocd battles in a way that cripples my life and the ocd destroys all of the good things that i have built in the good years. so i am never able to get anywhere. i assume some of you, if not all, have a similar story.
so what can we really do to beat our ocd in a way that will help forever to where we can make real progress in our lives that the ocd cant come a destroy?
im just trying to find out if there really is a way to beat the ocd. i ask this because for me, when its bad, its a struggle that is always changing and getting the best of me on the same issues over and over again (the things that i care about most). i just want to know if we can have real hope of being successful in our lives and careers? i see people that dont have ocd all around me that can achieve their goals and i cant because of my ocd. this really REALLY bothers me and upsets me. so i want to know what all of you that do have ocd think about us being able to beat the ocd.
thanks for your thoughts.

Actually im glad you posted this drummingman because its something thats been bothering me for a while now too.I accept that no matter how successful a life i lead, even if im the best christian in the world that these thoughts will STILL bother me regardless of how strong my faith is.

And youre right.Can we really overcome OCD?I dont think so.I truly believe that my OCD will never go away and so i must learn to live with it, but at the same time my OCD motivates me to work harder,do better,be stronger.Im always going try to get closer to God,Im always going to try and stop sinning,im always going to try and build stronger faith.So in a way im actually prospering in my spiritual life because my OCD motivates me to want to.(although i dont attribute my desire to live for God entirely to OCD).

We will all eventually learn to live good lives despite our OCD,but sadly thats all we can do.Im OK with that.If I can live a good christian life despite my OCD then i have accomplished something great already.

 

[BeccaLynn]

Drummingman,

I meant to pm you but, honestly, I have forgotten how! That sounds ridiculous, but it's true. I tried to reply to you one day, but just couldn't remember how. I want you to know though that there really is hope. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating, if there's hope for me, there is hope for ANYONE. I felt like I was in such a cycle with my thoughts and the fears over not being saved, I didn't feel like I wanted to go on. It wasn't that I wanted to die, I just wanted the torture in my mind to stop. I wanted to know I belonged to God and for all the horrid things that went through my mind to go silent. I wanted peace. I still do struggle, but my life is so much better. I am definitely not where I was even a year ago. God is compassionate, but I was often angry with Him because I viewed Him as harsh and a God I could never please. I never felt secure and seemed to imagine myself as the kitten you've seen in so many pictures hanging onto a branch by its claws, fearing what would happen if and when I "fell". I always felt condemned, not convicted, but condemned. I felt there was hope for everyone on the planet, but not for me. But, my viewpoint of God was so distorted. I had always heard that he loved me, but I never really felt He did. God has truly helped me with overcoming the seemingly blasphemous thoughts. I even thought them toward my son, whom I love more than life itself. The thoughts would just sicken me and then I would be afraid that because I thought them, they would come true. I had no peace concerning my own personal salvation, so I was terrified for my son's. I lived my entire life in FEAR. I capitalized it for a reason. God has finally helped me to see that I should accept the help from a minister friend who reached out to me my entire life. I just wasn't willing to receive it I guess until I came to the point of seeing that if I was going to get any better, I had no other choice. I've come to the point of not arguing with the thoughts or acting out compulsions like I used to. I never felt as if I was being sincere with God, that I had to get on my knees repeatedly every time I thought a terrible thought or I didn't really mean it when I prayed for forgiveness. I would get up off my knees, only to think a thought right off that I felt I should ask forgiveness for, and then I would get right back down again to ask for forgiveness, still feeling as if I didn't mean it. When I got married, I kept a lot of things from my husband, but it came to the point to where I had such bad thoughts concerning my son (harming him, etc.), that a lawyer told my husband he should take our son an leave me. I'm thankful my husband didn't take that advice. I may not have had the exact same obsessions/compulsions as you, but they were debilitating just the same. I was an absolute wreck. Life was way too much to handle. It was all I could do to get through the day. Fighting the thoughts exhausted me. I am not the same person anymore. God never left me, even though my darkness was just too dark for me see any glimmer of hope. I still do have ocd tendencies. They show themselves in other ways, and I still feel I'm not genuine, but I choose to go on with God despite the way I feel. Believe me Drummingman, there is hope. My life is so much better. There are days now that I actually feel happy. That is truly something for me to say! I thank God for this forum and the people here who are open and honest with what they go through, and who are ready to offer advice from their own experiences. I'll pray for you.

Rebecca

 

[Jayangel81]

I remember what my docter said to me. "Ive had patients being healed by OCD" While anything is possible with God. I know for me all i have to do is just remember a past obsession/intrusive thought and it can kick in.

I used to think if this is true and if God will not "let me forget" than im always in danger to having these very thoughts come back, even if its only for a short period of time. This is where faith and hope comes in really. I know God has a way of making everything better, ill be honest i donno if its gonna happen till i die I just keep asking for strength so i can endure till the end, i know i wont feel this way in the next life, thinking about that always comforts me

 

[PARCmd]

What most authorities say is that yes, there are some cases completely healed from OCD (like some here), and no, there are some who die having OCD.

Needless to say, in both cases, during and even sometimes, after the bout with OCD, there is always a remnant of doubt over one's Salvation, over having committed the unpardonable sin, or having renounced God or not. But what's important is the doctrine of ONCE SAVED, FOREVER SAVED.

With reading the Bible and prayers of a lot of people, I'm now free from Obsessions, although with very few intrusive thoughts remaining. While it's a good thing to be "healed" from OCD, I'll never be probably healed from the doubts I still have on my Salvation.

 

[drummingman]

dot worry man, i also battle with doubts about my salavtion at times (over the summer it almost killed me).
i know that i may never be healed of ocd, but is it possible to be able to have ocd and be able to push through it consistently to where it cannot contol our lives? when my ocd is bad, and it has been for about 1 year and a half (again, just insanely bad over the summer) my life just falls apart to where everything that i have built in the good years falls apart in front of my eyes. is it possible to still have ocd and be able to get on track and stay on track in our lives eventhough we still have the ocd?

 

[gracealone]

So in a way im actually prospering in my spiritual life because my OCD motivates me to want to.(although i dont attribute my desire to live for God entirely to OCD).
Amen jc999! I too have learned invaluable lessons from living with the affliction of OCD that I probably wouldn't have learned without it. It has been for me a purposeful affliction. It has shown scripture to be true that "all things, (even OCD) work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purposes."

We will all eventually learn to live good lives despite our OCD,but sadly thats all we can do.Im OK with that.If I can live a good christian life despite my OCD then i have accomplished something great already.[/quote]
Oh... jc999,I want very badly for you to be more than just OK about your OCD..
If we truly believe that OCD is a real disorder a real affliction that we haven't chosen for ourselves but that comes from living in a world where.. "the whole of creation groans under the weight of sin", then we must eventually come to the same place that God brought the apostle Paul. The place where we suffer affliction but not without purpose and not outside of the will and kingdom purposes of God.
Paul quote: "I asked the Lord three time to remove this thorn from me. But He said to me, 'My Grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in your weakness', I will therefore glory in my affliction that the power of Christ may rest upon me.. for when I am weak, I am strong."
Is OCD an affliction-is it a weakness? I would say "yes". Then it follows, if we hold scripture to be true, that it is not a thing of which we should be saying.. " Oh well... in spite of this illness God can still use me", but we must be willing to make the same radical statement that Paul made and say "because of this affliction of OCD God can use me." Not in spite of it...but because of it!!
Really?! Can we really accomplish God's purpose with this awful disorder that causes such intense anxiety and emotional upheaval?
Yes... if we are willing to fully grasp the implications of Christ's Gethsemane experience. If we consider the intense emotional upheaval and gut wrenching anxiety that Christ experienced as we see Him going to the cross even with the stabbing pain of the feeling of total abandonment that he experienced there when He said... "My God, My God WHY have you forsaken me?" If we believe that it was in this pain, in this affliction that the greatest work of God on behalf of all mankind was being accomplished - The victory over all sin and death.
Christ conquered in His affliction. "He was wounded for our trangressions, He was bruised for our iniquites... and by His stripes we are healed." It was His affliction that brought about our healing. It was never an "in spite of thing - no it was a "because of thing." Was He spared the pain of it? No. Did He wish very badly that He could somehow be spared it? Yes. Did either of those things stop Him in His determination to do His Father's will? No. We are confronted with those same type of things. Are we spared from suffering? No Do we wish very badly that God would remove our thorn? Yes Can we still choose to serve Him - to trust in Him .. can we walk on with our face set like a flint while feeling the emotional pain of our OCD? To this I give a resounding YES!! OCD can never rob us of our volitional will to choose to serve Him.
God Bless you,jc999, for sharing in the first quote from your post - that God is doing a work in you in and through and because of your OCD.
Walk on Sister!!
Mitzi.

 

[jc9992]

Can we still choose to serve Him - to trust in Him .. can we walk on with our face set like a flint while feeling the emotional pain of our OCD? To this I give a resounding YES!! OCD can never rob us of our volitional will to choose to serve Him.

Have you noticed that recently ,the majority of people on this board are doing just that.thats awesome

 

[shredhead320]

I have to say that honestly, I believe that it is ALL ABOUT what God wants. Obviously, we all have this OCD for a reason. Just now I was sitting with girlfriend soon to be fiance and I was struggling with violent thoughts but I knew I had to push through them and just hold her and love her anyway - and I did. Satan told me that I wanted to hurt her and that I needed to hurt her, but I kept holding her tight and looking in her eyes. If God wants it to leave my life then it will. But now he is teaching me that he will help control me and that I will never hurt anyone because of this. Exposure always heals me to some extent but God has a will and he can heal us of this IF IT IS IN HIS WILL. I also believe that God uses it to get us places that we might not have been before and that is where he is pushing me. Satan will do what he can to tear us down and tell us we're going to murder someone, get sick, stop loving someone, but he cannot and WILL NOT make us do these things. God loves and has given us this problem FOR A REASON and it makes us stronger. God loves us SO much that we forget sometimes in all the pain but it makes the realization of love so much stronger. God is using this disorder to help me stop drinking, start loving others and realize that He is in control. We just have to embrace that!

 

[stacii]

In my experience we will never be completely free from OCD. But, like so many others here, my faith has been made much stronger through my experience. It has really caused me to seek after God, which is something I am so thankful for. I'd much rather suffer temporarily in this life than eternally afterward.

That being said - it does get way better. There will always be struggles, but there are so many coping strategies that you can use which have been proven effective. You will have to learn them, and then literally relearn them as your illness comes in waves. It takes commitment and perseverance, but you can use methods that you learn in therapy in almost all facets and walks of life. At one point I assumed life as I knew it was over, before my diagnosis and recovery, but things have improved dramatically since then.

 

[shredhead320]

Here's one instance of me overcoming OCD. Just now, I was kissing my girlfriend and I have a STRONG fear that one day I will just SNAP her neck for no apparent reason. It keeps me from getting close to her sometimes. But just now, when I was kissing her I put both hands on her face and held them there and kissed her. THAT is overcoming OCD. Expose yourself on your own. Conquer this! YOU CAN DO IT! I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!

 

[Jayangel81]

Here's one instance of me overcoming OCD. Just now, I was kissing my girlfriend and I have a STRONG fear that one day I will just SNAP her neck for no apparent reason. It keeps me from getting close to her sometimes. But just now, when I was kissing her I put both hands on her face and held them there and kissed her. THAT is overcoming OCD. Expose yourself on your own. Conquer this! YOU CAN DO IT! I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!

Way to go brother, sometimes you just gotta face the beast. im curious to know does youre girlfriend know what youre afraid of?

 

[shredhead320]

Yes, she does actually.

 

[Jayangel81]

Yes, she does actually.

thats cool, i beleive one person i told about similar thoughts..i heard from another person that she was scared to be around me..Its hard for some people i guess.

 

[shredhead320]

Well, she told me I was such a good guy to her that it didn't matter.

 

[Jayangel81]

thats awesome