How do you know if you have OCD?

[AMAC]

I have been having evil thoughts I do not want or believe, scared I may have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. How do I know if I have OCD or not?

 

[gracealone]

Hi AMAC,
Welcome to our forum. Although only a Doctor can diagnose you with OCD it is very possible that you have it from what you said on your post. You said you do not want the thoughts or believe the thoughts and yet they are making you miserable.
For starters nearly all Christians have momentary thoughts of doubt, or the occasional unwanted "evil" thought or statement pop into their heads but they are able to just shrug them off and get on with life. The difference in how the OCD brain handles these thoughts is that it grabs onto them, obsesses over them, and cannot get rid of them. This is because the OCD brain is not working properly and it's fight or flight center is overstimulated. The thoughts are with the OCD'er every waking minute. Their presence makes the sufferer miserable with anxiety. Many of us experience nausea, trembling, insomnia, and many other physical symptoms because of our OCD thoughts. Then the viscious cycle of obsessing, fighting the thoughts, debating with them, looking for reassurance and obsessing again starts up. When this happens the thoughts gain strength and the intense anxiety that they cause make them seem even more valid. If this describes what you are experiencing than you may be suffering from religious OCD.
But you can get help with the proper medication and therapy, (exposure/response) you can learn to conquer the bully of OCD.
Hope I was of some small help to you.
God Bless,
Mitzi

 

[AMAC]

Hi AMAC,
Welcome to our forum. Although only a Doctor can diagnose you with OCD it is very possible that you have it from what you said on your post. You said you do not want the thoughts or believe the thoughts and yet they are making you miserable.
For starters nearly all Christians have momentary thoughts of doubt, or the occasional unwanted "evil" thought or statement pop into their heads but they are able to just shrug them off and get on with life. The difference in how the OCD brain handles these thoughts is that it grabs onto them, obsesses over them, and cannot get rid of them. This is because the OCD brain is not working properly and it's fight or flight center is overstimulated. The thoughts are with the OCD'er every waking minute. Their presence makes the sufferer miserable with anxiety. Many of us experience nausea, trembling, insomnia, and many other physical symptoms because of our OCD thoughts. Then the viscious cycle of obsessing, fighting the thoughts, debating with them, looking for reassurance and obsessing again starts up. When this happens the thoughts gain strength and the intense anxiety that they cause make them seem even more valid. If this describes what you are experiencing than you may be suffering from religious OCD.
But you can get help with the proper medication and therapy, (exposure/response) you can learn to conquer the bully of OCD.
Hope I was of some small help to you.
God Bless,
Mitzi

Thank you for you words. I used to have stomach aches, but thank God that went away. Now, I have back pain, and I do have some insomia. I try to keep myself busy in order not to have these evil thoughts, and it does go away for a while. Anxiety does run in my family also. Thank you for helping me with this.

AMAC