OCD: Help And Prayers Needed!

[Sapphire23]

Hey guys,

I've been going through a very bad time lately with my OCD. It all started off with me having a genuine doubt about God and so I found a great book on doubt and it helped me. All was well. Then over the past week all of these horrible thoughts started to pop into my head: You don't believe in God! You're only thinking of Him as a story (this is something I can't seem to get out of my head)! You were never saved! Obviously this has distressed me so much. The thoughts even got to the point where they were trying to say I believe in the devil and not God! This was the scariest moment. Then they started saying I'm possessed. I sought help from a Christian counsellor who has reassured me it's not a demonic thing, it's just the OCD telling me lies. I have also gone on lots of meds and been in contact with a mental health crisis team. You won't believe this, the two ladies who came and saw me were both Christian! I can see God working there anyway . They also said all my symptoms are just OCD, nothing evil. They said I have faith deep down, it's just OCD covering it all up. I have since then felt quite a lot of relief in knowing this and I know that I am saved (yes, I am sure I really accepted Christ as my saviour and the Bible to be true). Right now though, since I've thought so much about God, everything seems so unclear (overload in other words). I know though that He's still with me, protecting me and shielding me from anything bad. I just wanted to come on here and ask for your prayers and any other advice about it all. For example, does this just sound like OCD to you and that I have faith deep down inside? Anyway, thanks to God I'm not worried right now but as I said before I can't think of anything much right now as I've had overload. I guess I just want reassurance that thiis does not mean my faith is gone, God just wants me to rest my brain and He's still with me living in me. So any advice/help/prayers appreciated. Particularly since I've got to get through exams next week.

Lastly, thanks to God for this forum...

Edit: Another reason why I believe it's just OCD is that the thoughts just won't stop and they move from one thing to another. Plus they are playing on the most imprtant thing in my life, my Saviour Jesus.

One more edit!: See I felt so sure then that I am saved but then the thoughts are telling me I didn't really believe! The counsellor and I went through how I've changed since I've been saved and so many things have changed (e.g. wanting to read God's word) so I must hold onto this and know it did happen!

 

[tyield1102]

Sapphire,

I have been exactly where you are and it happened to me shortly after I got saved. It was the most heart wrenching thing to go through. I was actually just thinking about that time in my life last night when I came to the realization that through that time in my life God showed me that He was there with me every day. A lot of the time my OCD wouldn't allow me to fully believe it, but He was there holding onto me just like He is to you. I prayed for you

 

[Sapphire23]

Thanks for praying for me. I am so blessed because so many people are praying for me right now.

At this moment my head is telling me I've stopped believing because I can't think of God at all. But as I mentioned in my earlier post I just have this feeling inside that my faith is there and if I just stop thinking about everything for a few days things will become clearer. I prayed to Jesus that I have nothing left in me and that He needs to take over. I said I'm not going to think about anything for the next day or two and I trust in Him that in doing so my faith and He will become clear again.

In a way I think that God is teaching me a lesson to just stop thinking and stop doing OCD and trust Him that will be alright and that the faith he's given me will prevail. I really pray this is the case and it's not unbelief.

 

[Hermit7]

I would highly recommend the book "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel. He has a chapter called, "Objection #8: I Still Have Doubts, So I Can't Be a Christian".

He addresses the issues of feeling doubts head on. Trust me, I know how you feel Sapphire.

 

[Sapphire23]

Thanks for the book recommendation!

I have some good and bad news. The good is I was able to take a step back and not think about things to do with God for a day or so and it really helped to clear my mind. It was a good experiment (yeah I'll call it that!) because it did make things a little clearer in my head. I realised that I do have faith and I'm sure I believe (although the OCD tries to say not, see below).

This is where the bad news comes in. I'm still having some silly thoughts enter my mind, like when I say God's name in my head it all makes sense, but when I see it on paper it looks unfamiliar. This is frustrating and I assume some form of the OCD taking place as I feel anxiety when I'm about to read it, and thus my mind is already being prepared to be confused. What do people think of that? Strange huh?! I'm also having thoughts which tell me that I haven't believed, that I just think of God as some figure or a story or something. But that to me screams OCD because it sounds irrational. Also when I start to pray my mind goes blank about God which annoys me as I know who I'm praying to, my head just tries to trick me that I don't! The thing is does this sound like OCD? I've never really encountered thoughts like this and so if anyone has experience with it, please let me know.
So right now, things are still a little confused in my brain but I take comfort in the fact that I do know that He is there, I'm sure.

Also, I think the meds are kicking in a bit which is a relief and I've had a lot of mental health support being put into place so that's good. I just wish it were easy to sort out the OCD from my real thoughts so I can praise my Saviour without intrusive thoughts and be certain that my faith is real!

Sorry if that was long, but I like writing down all my thoughts, it gets them out of my system .

 

[VZ2011]

Extreme spiritual fearfulness (over blasphemy & going to hell) & doubting (even while you are pursing God, reading his word, and in prayer)are forms of spiritual OCD. They and other racing negative fearful thoughts are the result of a vitamin deficiency which causes a chemical imbalance in the brain and is treatable with extreme daily doses of vitamines. If you or a loved one experience extreme spiritual fearfulness, OCD or schizophrenia tendancies (paranoia, visual hallucinations, hearing voices), depression, insomnia, racing thoughts, panic attacks, anxiety, other mental distresses, do yourself a favor and reasearch depression, schizophrenia, OCD vitamin and orthomolecular therapy and the work of a canadian doctor named Abram Hoffer. Basically he developed a treatment (that truly WORKS) with Vitamines. It's a minimal cost to incur to invest in your physical and mental AND SPIRITUAL wellness. I am not peddling anyone's vitamines. You can get any brand at Walmart or a grocery store or a vitamine store on line. These Vitamin supplements have been a tremendous help to my relative and myself who continue to experience greater and greater healing each day that we continue with this vitamine therapy. Relief comes within the first couple of days and continues as you continue to take the vitamine supplements. You must take them for the rest of your life or risk a relapse. [/font]

1000 mg niacian daily (get a combination of flush-free and regular niacin) the regular will cause you to flush--(you will get red and hot but this means it is working--the longer it takes you to flush the more you needed it. the redness goes away in about 15 minutes. The flush-free niacin will not make you flush. If you start to feel nauceaous, lower the dosage or skip a day altogether with it, then take a "normal" dosage, like 100-500 mg. An extremely high dose like 1000-2000 is for when things get extremely uncontrollable and it should only be temporary. It's too much to take regularly. After a day or two you could start to feel naucious from that much, but it will jumpstart the seratonin in your brain to help you relax and control your thoughts, then you can lower it to 500.

2000-3000 mg Vitamine C take 1000 mg 3x a day[/font]
HTP5 - At least 100 mg daily
Vitamine B 8 - (inisitol) - 10-18g per day depending on severity of your OCD (it's alot but take it)
Vitamine B combo vitamine 2 or 3 per day (with B1, B6, B12)[/font]

Essential Omega Fats (with fish oil and flax) take 2-3 per day.[/font]

Results will be notable within a day or two, with the greatest results starting at around 6 weeks of taking these.

Swear off all junk food, all artificial sweetners, all refined white sugar products, all alcohol, eat GOOD NUTRITIOUS FOOD, fresh and frozen vegetables, fruits, unsweetned fruit juice, filtered water or spring water, cut down on caffeine. Going gluetin free is also good but it's not necessary for ever

Please research these things on line yourself as I am not allowed to post URLs on this site. I would have

Please, also understand that you must honor Jesus Christ and trust his shed blood and ressurection fully for salvation. Read the word daily and pray, and live according to biblical principals and this along with proper nutrition, will eliminate spiritual OCD and extreme spiritual fearfulness