What causes OCD

[annrobert]

I am wondering what causes ocd.Where does it come from?
Is it always come from a chemical imbalance?
Does it come from the way we were raised?
Does it come from society influences?
Does it come from physical illnesses or overwork?
Does it come from too many tragedies ,or traumas?
Does it come from a history of abuse?
Why do some people get it and not others?
Do healthy people blame it on the suffering or think they are are weak or lazy?
blessings
annrobert

 

[Jayangel81]

I am wondering what causes ocd.Where does it come from?
Is it always come from a chemical imbalance?
Does it come from the way we were raised?
Does it come from society influences?
Does it come from physical illnesses or overwork?
Does it come from too many tragedies ,or traumas?
Does it come from a history of abuse?
Why do some people get it and not others?
Do healthy people blame it on the suffering or think they are are weak or lazy?
blessings
annrobert

You have just entered a very controversial subject

How it starts varies in my opinion

 

[SoldierOfSoul]

Well, in my case I can remember having it as a small child, although it has gotten much worse now that I have gotten older. I have heard some say that it is a chemical imbalance in the brain, but I have also heard others say that, that chemical imbalance is caused when we participate in the compulsive activities. Really to tell you the truth I am almost glad I have it, because if I didn't I might never have came back to God (long story).

I think it is just the way we ourselves have decided to handle stress and anxiety. I guess for some it is easier to do the compulsions instead of actually facing the real fear and anxiety that comes with life in general. Very hard question to answer annrobert, I have never been to psychologist (although I probably need to) but this is my own personal opinion, it would not surprise me though if it is some sort of chemical imbalance in the brain.

 

[RachelZ]

Hey Annerobert...good question...personally I think with a lot of mental health stuff it's a combination of nature and nurture rather than either/or...in other words we can be predisposed to something but how we are brought up or our life experiences can very much influence what becomes of that predisposition.

Hi SoldierOfSoul...sorry you've suffered with this since you were a kid but I'm glad you can see something positive in it all!! Regarding what you said about why we get it...I might be being really thick here but if it's our chosen way of handling stress and easier than dealing with anxiety and fear then doesn't that prove that my worst fears are in fact true...ie I'm like this cos I can't face grim reality?

Take care all...Rachel

 

[SoldierOfSoul]

Hi SoldierOfSoul...sorry you've suffered with this since you were a kid but I'm glad you can see something positive in it all!! Regarding what you said about why we get it...I might be being really thick here but if it's our chosen way of handling stress and easier than dealing with anxiety and fear then doesn't that prove that my worst fears are in fact true...ie I'm like this cos I can't face grim reality?

I guess what I really meant was that take for example someone who compulsively washes there hands constantly, the grim reality to them is that there hands may not be clean and that they might infect someone or something. It is the way there brain (chemical imbalance is a possibility) has decided to deal with the stress of that certain issue in there life. Scrupolosity is something completely different I believe (if that is what you are speaking of) because it then crosses into the spiritual realm and has to do with our eternity, a very stressful thing as it is! But if your OCD attaches itself to that, which usually happens with most OCD sufferers, it tries to bring into doubt our eternal security, which if we didn't have OCD our minds would instantly recoil from because in reality we know that we are eternally safe in Christ.

So it comes down to the refusal to believe such obsessive thoughts and do as we are commanded and rest in the love and safety that is in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Our OCD ridden conscious may condemn us for the rest of our life, but we know what God's word says so we must believe that and not our faulty conscience.

 

[RachelZ]

Thanks for the clarification...I hear what you're saying about resting in God's love and not listening to our faulty conscience but like I said in my recent thread how do you do that...knowing that God can laugh at a sinner going to hell and also knowing myself how can I trust that God is OK with me? Yes if I have done all He has commanded of me in the bible in order to be right in His eyes but how can I trust myself to have done that? Sorry to sound difficult but I just can't get my head round how to move forward with this...hope you're doing OK...Rachel

 

[RachelZ]

Sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread Annerobert...if anyone wants to respond to my post above please could you do it in my recent thread so Annerobert's question doesn't get buried...many thanks, Rachel

 

[SoldierOfSoul]

Thanks for the clarification...I hear what you're saying about resting in God's love and not listening to our faulty conscience but like I said in my recent thread how do you do that...knowing that God can laugh at a sinner going to hell and also knowing myself how can I trust that God is OK with me? Yes if I have done all He has commanded of me in the bible in order to be right in His eyes but how can I trust myself to have done that? Sorry to sound dificult but I just can't get my head round how to move forward with this...hope you're doing OK...Rachel

I guess the answer to your question is that you can't trust yourself, you can only trust God and He has promised that all that believe on His Son for salvation are safe, Paul said (with the guidance of the Holy Spirit) that if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and He doesn't condemn those that have placed their eternal hope in Him no matter what are feelings may tell us. I believe God does give some up to a reprobate mind if as Paul says they do not like to retain God in their lives, but those are people who have rejected Christ as their Saviour. Those poor lost souls do not care about sin, God, our the sacrifice Jesus made for the them.

As long as we trust in the finished work of the Cross then we are fine, if you backslide or fall away for a short time you still have been sealed with the Holy Spirit so you will always come back to Him. And as He said He will never forsake us no matter what, although we may (as in the case of Peter denying Jesus) He is still their to receive us back to Himself as long as we come back to Him in repentance. To quote an old hymn, "Jesus is up on the mountain searching for the lost sheep, bringing them back to Him forever to keep".

You have nothing to worry about Rachel, you are safe in His hands forever, you believe in Jesus and He will continue to guide and uphold you in your relationship with Him. Although our OCD will tell us different and the devil will certainly use this OCD to his advantage, so we must not believe these lies but trust only in the pardoning blood of Jesus Christ.

 

[SoldierOfSoul]

Sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread Annerobert...if anyone wants to respond to my post above please could you do it in my recent thread so Annerobert's question doesn't get buried...many thanks, Rachel

To late! Well, if you have more questions I will answer them in your thread.

 

[RachelZ]

Thanks SoldierOfSoul...really appreciate your reply. I just wish I had your conviction. I just feel I am somehow wrong...that somehow there is something not right that needs to be put right. In order for me to trust God I have to also trust a. my interpretation of scripture, b. my discernement of what is my conscience and what is not and c. my ability to be guided by and hear the Holy Spirit. I trust none of those things so how can I trust God? Thanks again...take care, Rachel

 

[keryakos]

OCD as a disease does not exist ... Any disease or disorder that is not scientifically and empirically proven to exist ...does not exist objectively

That being said .The cluster of symptoms that we experience and which prompts the labeling of OCD does in fact exist because we experience them subjectively and amazingly uniformily which means they are not just in our own minds so to speak .

So i think what we should begin with are the facts rather than the word of the psychiatrist ..

The facts in my case are I have intrusive thoughts that cause me great anxiety ...i have compulsions to counter these thoughts verbally , i ruminate on them and sometimes accidentally or without thinking utter them .. Those are the facts in my case ...

I have a diagnosis based on those facts but the question is ..WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY is this happening to begin with .. Your physician hasn't a clue i can promise you .

I think it is happening for different reasons .. some biological no doubt , some conditioning , no doubt , some emotional , no doubt and yes some spirititual , no doubt ..

There is no one cause to OCD or what we label as OCD because it is not a disease like the german measels or a disorder like near sightedness .

But what is causing our particular bouts of illness i believe are relative to our own physiologies , environment , psche 's and most importantly our beliefs and fears ..

I believe you can believe youre way into OCD and you can believe your way out of it in SOME instances ..

As a label as a diagnosis as a avenue for treatment the cause is much simpler ,,,,, MONEY ...

 

[annrobert]

I have a diagnosis based on those facts but the question is ..WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY is this happening to begin with .. Your physician hasn't a clue i can promise you .

I think it is happening for different reasons .. some biological no doubt , some conditioning , no doubt , some emotional , no doubt and yes some spirititual , no doubt ..

There is no one cause to OCD or what we label as OCD because it is not a disease like the german measels or a disorder like near sightedness .

But what is causing our particular bouts of illness i believe are relative to our own physiologies , environment , psche 's and most importantly our beliefs and fears ..

I believe you can believe youre way into OCD and you can believe your way out of it in SOME instances ..

As a label as a diagnosis as a avenue for treatment the cause is much simpler ,,,,, MONEY ...

I agree with this keryakos.
blessings
annrobert

 

[keryakos]

thanks ..i wish i had a more precise answer but im glad you asked the question because i think we need to be challenged to think and do research for ourselves

 

[annrobert]

thanks ..i wish i had a more precise answer but im glad you asked the question because i think we need to be challenged to think and do research for ourselves

Well I think that is a very good answer.And I do think we need to challenge ourselves and find out all we can , so we can do everything possible to overcome this illness.

A six year old was learning 1Samuel 15:32,to obey is better than sacrifice.One day she saw her 3 year old sister being disobedient and immediately applied her interpretation of the verse. Kristi, she admonished sternly you better obey or you will be sacrifiecd.
Maybe we can laugh our way out of it.
I bought a joke book
blessings
annrobert

 

[kaykay9.0]

The last thing I read about OCD said that they still believe there is a genetic component, but a weak one. I tend to think this is probably true. Maybe there is a genetic tendency that only shows up under other circumstances favorable to it. I don't know. I know I have struggled with OCD tendencies since I was about 7 and I don't think it would made any difference what family I grew up in or how or I was raised. Whatever it is, I think something else was at work. Also, I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but they even have seen children exhibit OCD tendencies after a bout with strep throat. (They surmise the bacteria may somehow damage the brain cells a little bit or affect it in some way.) I just don't really know. I just know for me, I don't think my upbringing contributed to it.

 

[annrobert]

The last thing I read about OCD said that they still believe there is a genetic component, but a weak one. I tend to think this is probably true. Maybe there is a genetic tendency that only shows up under other circumstances favorable to it. I don't know. I know I have struggled with OCD tendencies since I was about 7 and I don't think it would made any difference what family I grew up in or how or I was raised. Whatever it is, I think something else was at work. Also, I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but they even have seen children exhibit OCD tendencies after a bout with strep throat. (They surmise the bacteria may somehow damage the brain cells a little bit or affect it in some way.) I just don't really know. I just know for me, I don't think my upbringing contributed to it.

That's interesting it being genetic and showing up under certain circumstances.
I find it very very interesting that children have ocd tendencies after strep throat,which might mean any number of infections could cause it?
For many people unbringing may not contribute and for some I think it may.I am happy your unbringing did not contribute.
blessings
annrobert

 

[seajoy]

I inherited ocd from my grandma and great grandma. Fortunately there is medication and therapy for my chemical imbalance.

 

[annrobert]

Seajoy,
I do believe that it can be inherited ,such as is your case.
But I wonder if there are different methods of inheriting it.Such as getting the same infection a family member had and having the same vulnerablitiy to that infection.I am not sure at all, but would it be possible for someone to inherit ocd from a family member by listening to them as well.Or is ocd always inherited in such a way as to have a chemical imbalance passed down,or can an infection that causes it be passed down.I am so happy that medication and therapy has worked for you seajoy.
annrobert

 

[seajoy]

Seajoy,
I do believe that it can be inherited ,such as is your case.
But I wonder if there are different methods of inheriting it.Such as getting the same infection a family member had and having the same vulnerablitiy to that infection.I am not sure at all, but would it be possible for someone to inherit ocd from a family member by listening to them as well.Or is ocd always inherited in such a way as to have a chemical imbalance passed down,or can an infection that causes it be passed down.I am so happy that medication and therapy has worked for you seajoy.
annrobert

I have a way different form of ocd than my 2 grandmas had. One of them had to do her sewing perfect and would rip out a whole garment if just one stitch was wrong. My other grandma has the clean freak one, and nothing can ever be clean enough. Mine is all religious - so from what I can tell it's the chemical imbalance, not learned behavior. As for an infection - I don't know about that one. I suppose it's possible.

 

[Caty]

This is just my opinion, but i believe it is inherited. Alot of people (almost all) have anxiety disorders in my family. My mother has a form of OCD (where she is afraid she'll get sick) mine is contamination, cleaning, religious...