Hmm, what is this now?

[Micha]

Hello sweet people
I have scrupulosity and my theme is that I shouldn’t make promises to God.
My mind has for a while been making all kinds of promises to God but I try to ignore them so my brain learns it’s not a dangerous thought.

Now my question is: is it normal for people with ocd that when they try to recover and it’s going okay what they somehow “want” to think the “forbidden” thought? Sometimes I find myself thinking the “forbidden” thought eventhough I don’t like thinking it.
What is this?

 

[Lost4words]

That is so true! However hard you try you still think of what you shouldnt be thinking of!

 

[Micha]

Yearh, but for me sometimes it surfaces like an ocd thought, you know, out of the blue but sometimes I’m thinking this “forbidden” thought on my own and I don’t know why when I don’t actually want to think it.. ‍

 

[Lost4words]

Yearh, but for me sometimes it surfaces like an ocd thought, you know, out of the blue but sometimes I’m thinking this “forbidden” thought on my own and I don’t know why when I don’t actually want to think it.. ‍

So true sister, so true!

God bless you

 

[Micha]

So true sister, so true!

God bless you

Have you really experienced this too?? So weird when the thoughts doesn’t feel like they are intrusive anymore but self-made. Don’t know why..

 

[Micha]

So true sister, so true!

God bless you

And God bless you too!

 

[Kerensa]

Now my question is: is it normal for people with ocd that when they try to recover and it’s going okay what they somehow “want” to think the “forbidden” thought? Sometimes I find myself thinking the “forbidden” thought eventhough I don’t like thinking it.

Hi Micha,

I don't know anything much about ocd, but I do know what it's like when you don't want to think of something... and naturally, as soon as you're conscious of not wanting to think it, it means you ARE thinking it. I find it helps to take your thought off yourself and just keep turning back to God. Ask Him what He is thinking right now and what He wants you to be thinking about right now. Sometimes you may need to get really still and quiet and just listen, or else go out for a walk or do something good and productive that moves your thoughts out of whatever rut they seem to be stuck in, but just give yourself that space to really listen to God. I know how difficult it can be when there seems to be some great turmoil going on in your head, but God IS speaking to you all the time and you can expect to hear it — and to find the comfort you need. God bless you.

 

[Micha]

Hi Micha,

I don't know anything much about ocd, but I do know what it's like when you don't want to think of something... and naturally, as soon as you're conscious of not wanting to think it, it means you ARE thinking it. I find it helps to take your thought off yourself and just keep turning back to God. Ask Him what He is thinking right now and what He wants you to be thinking about right now. Sometimes you may need to get really still and quiet and just listen, or else go out for a walk or do something good and productive that moves your thoughts out of whatever rut they seem to be stuck in, but just give yourself that space to really listen to God. I know how difficult it can be when there seems to be some great turmoil going on in your head, but God IS speaking to you all the time and you can expect to hear it — and to find the comfort you need. God bless you.

Thank you so much. Very sweet of you!
I’m pretty new in here. Do you know if you can message a certain person in here? If so - how?

 

[JesusisKing77]

Hello sweet people
I have scrupulosity and my theme is that I shouldn’t make promises to God.
My mind has for a while been making all kinds of promises to God but I try to ignore them so my brain learns it’s not a dangerous thought.

Now my question is: is it normal for people with ocd that when they try to recover and it’s going okay what they somehow “want” to think the “forbidden” thought? Sometimes I find myself thinking the “forbidden” thought eventhough I don’t like thinking it.
What is this?

I have the same problem,whenever I feel okay I get tempted into thinking these horrible toughts ,then the anxiety gets worse I think them,and I go back to feeling guilty and horrible.I hope God will help me is with this horrible disease,I’m so afraid of Him now,but one verse that keeps me going is this one John 16:33 I have told you these things so that in my you find peace ,in this world you will have trouble,but take heart !i have overcome the world

 

[Kerensa]

Thank you so much. Very sweet of you!
I’m pretty new in here. Do you know if you can message a certain person in here? If so - how?

You can, quite easily — just click the person's name beside their post and then choose "Start a conversation". That lets you send messages privately.

 

[Micha]

I have the same problem,whenever I feel okay I get tempted into thinking these horrible toughts ,then the anxiety gets worse I think them,and I go back to feeling guilty and horrible.I hope God will help me is with this horrible disease,I’m so afraid of Him now,but one verse that keeps me going is this one John 16:33 I have told you these things so that in my you find peace ,in this world you will have trouble,but take heart !i have overcome the world

Exactly! You still think it is ocd when it’s actually you thinking it?
Thanks for sharing that verse

 

[Micha]

You can, quite easily — just click the person's name beside their post and then choose "Start a conversation". That lets you send messages privately.

Thank you for answering. What if the person haven’t made a post themselves but only commented on others? Can’t find out how to write a private message :/

 

[Kerensa]

You mean, if the person has given a "like", "agree", "friendly" rating etc. to someone else's post? If you click on "List" next to the likes/ratings under that post, it will bring up the names of all the people who've given ratings and you can click on the name you want there. It'll again bring up the same box that shows that person's information and gives you the "Start a conversation" option. ("Conversations" are private messages, by the way. I wasn't sure either until someone started one with me and I could see it was private.)

 

[Micha]

So weird. It doesn’t give me that option.. Only profile page, gift, follow and og ignore. But thanks for trying

 

[Kerensa]

Now I think about it, I think you have to have made a certain number of posts (I can't remember how many!) before the system will let you do private conversations.

 

[Mari17]

Hello sweet people
I have scrupulosity and my theme is that I shouldn’t make promises to God.
My mind has for a while been making all kinds of promises to God but I try to ignore them so my brain learns it’s not a dangerous thought.

Now my question is: is it normal for people with ocd that when they try to recover and it’s going okay what they somehow “want” to think the “forbidden” thought? Sometimes I find myself thinking the “forbidden” thought eventhough I don’t like thinking it.
What is this?

I think, when we're overcoming an obsession, our brains do everything they can to keep us worried for as long as possible. OCD doesn't want to let us go without a fight! Our job is to keep ignoring it, in whatever form it shows up!

 

[Micha]

I think, when we're overcoming an obsession, our brains do everything they can to keep us worried for as long as possible. OCD doesn't want to let us go without a fight! Our job is to keep ignoring it, in whatever form it shows up!

Mari17, it’s you I’ve been trying to write to in a private message (se my earlier question in this thread) but I can’t write to you in private. Don’t know if it’s because I haven’t been a member long enough. But I’m so glad you wrote! I’ve seen some of your answers to another person in here from 2017 and that person also had troubles with promises to God and your answers has helped me SO much so I really hoped you could help me too.
Thank you so much for being here!

You are right about the way the mind works. I taked to a therapist and she said that obsessive thoughts also came in the form of you thinking the thought yourself because as you said - the mind is so occupied with that fear.

May I ask you something else? I read somewhere that a promise said out loud is more binding than if you think it and eventhough many people I have seen (including priests) says that is not the case, I just can’t get it out of my head. So now I’m so focused on my mouth/lips so I don’t accidently say a promise to God. Does that sound like ocd to you or just normal religious fear?

Thank you again so much for answering me!!

 

[Mari17]

Mari17, it’s you I’ve been trying to write to in a private message (se my earlier question in this thread) but I can’t write to you in private. Don’t know if it’s because I haven’t been a member long enough. But I’m so glad you wrote! I’ve seen some of your answers to another person in here from 2017 and that person also had troubles with promises to God and your answers has helped me SO much so I really hoped you could help me too.
Thank you so much for being here!

You are right about the way the mind works. I taked to a therapist and she said that obsessive thoughts also came in the form of you thinking the thought yourself because as you said - the mind is so occupied with that fear.

May I ask you something else? I read somewhere that a promise said out loud is more binding than if you think it and eventhough many people I have seen (including priests) says that is not the case, I just can’t get it out of my head. So now I’m so focused on my mouth/lips so I don’t accidently say a promise to God. Does that sound like ocd to you or just normal religious fear?

Thank you again so much for answering me!!

So glad it was helpful! I've had OCD almost all my life, so I'm thankful when my experiences can benefit someone else! Fear of accidentally saying OR thinking a promise are both very typical of OCD. I used to have a promising obsession too. It's important to identify your compulsions (the things you do to relieve the anxiety) and work on reducing those. Do you have a therapist now?

Also, I think it's because you're new that you can't private message people. I'll send you a pm instead.

 

[Roidecoeur78]

Mari17, it’s you I’ve been trying to write to in a private message (se my earlier question in this thread) but I can’t write to you in private. Don’t know if it’s because I haven’t been a member long enough. But I’m so glad you wrote! I’ve seen some of your answers to another person in here from 2017 and that person also had troubles with promises to God and your answers has helped me SO much so I really hoped you could help me too.
Thank you so much for being here!

You are right about the way the mind works. I taked to a therapist and she said that obsessive thoughts also came in the form of you thinking the thought yourself because as you said - the mind is so occupied with that fear.

May I ask you something else? I read somewhere that a promise said out loud is more binding than if you think it and eventhough many people I have seen (including priests) says that is not the case, I just can’t get it out of my head. So now I’m so focused on my mouth/lips so I don’t accidently say a promise to God. Does that sound like ocd to you or just normal religious fear?

Thank you again so much for answering me!!

This forum doesn't give you the option of sending PMs or starting threads or a blog until you've posted a minimal number of comments(I think 20) and gotten 5 positive ratings. I just rated your post so you should have the 5 required to unlock those features now.

I've also been struggling hard with self-condemning thought cycles, focusing on my inability to be or do worthy things. But I'm very high-strung, and OCD definitely runs in my paternal family. It predisposed all of them to multiple addictions, easily taken up to take the edge off I suppose. But it has ravaged their quality of life and shortened their stay here on Earth. Horrible disease indeed.

 

[Kerensa]

May I ask you something else? I read somewhere that a promise said out loud is more binding than if you think it and eventhough many people I have seen (including priests) says that is not the case, I just can’t get it out of my head. So now I’m so focused on my mouth/lips so I don’t accidently say a promise to God. Does that sound like ocd to you or just normal religious fear?

It doesn't sound like normal religious fear to me, so I suppose it would be classed as OCD. But Micha, you don't have to worry about those "promises", even though you can't seem to control the temptation to make them. God knows your true mind and heart better than anyone ever could, better even than you yourself do. He isn't going to be offended or angered by "promises" you make that are the result of obsessive fears or anxieties. So try not to get scared or ashamed if you keep on making those "promises" when you don't truly want to. They won't change His love towards you. He made you and He knows you and He loves you.

What you're struggling with is something probably every human being goes through in some form or another, whether or not it's diagnosed as OCD. The Apostle Paul gives a very helpful description of it in Romans 7:15-25 — the problem itself, and finally the solution to it. I'll quote it from the New Living Translation:

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

So you're not alone, and you're not truly struggling with anything that is foreign to human nature in general, even if it seems extreme. Evil uses all kinds of tricks and absurd fears and fixations to try to keep us from thinking clearly and truly knowing and loving and obeying God. But the good news is, it can't win. It's already been defeated, really.

Just keep forging ahead, no matter how tough it seems, Micha. Make sure you've got people to talk to when you need to, someone you trust and who understands and won't judge you for these obsessive thoughts that are not really you or yours anyway — a good therapist or a minister or a close friend at your church. That always helps. But you do already have the answer you most need, and you can turn to it — to Him — any time, all the time, for sure. Keep it up.