What is OCD???

[Aaliyah]

I remember reading somewhere, I don't know if it on here, but that OCD is not really a mental disorder at all and it is just being influenced by dark powers or not trusting in God or something. With mine, I actually feel like I'm doing it to do what God wants. Like everything I do, I have to make sure that this is okay, like EVERY little thing, like even posting this on here I even have doubts that doing this is okay. I know this all stems from me doing something wrong in the past and having to pay for it and now I feel like I can't trust anything I do because obviously just being myself is what got me into this mess. Anyway, I'm not really sure what my point to this post is, but I was wondering if anyone has any opinions or views on it that they would like to share.

I also have panic attacks and a lot of anxiety and I feel like I do the OCD to keep myself from having them because what caused me to have them in the first place was disobeying God, so now if I do exactly everything right I won't have it, at least that's how I believe. Basically, I have religious OCD, I believe that's the right term for it. But I don't feel like I am doing it to disobey God, I feel like the reason I am doing it is to OBEY God, it's the exact opposite. Then I get these thoughts that what if I am really not doing what God wants and it is some other power that is influencing me. Most of the time I feel like I am doing the right thing but I will get these thoughts sometimes that what if maybe I am not doing the right thing. Then I also feel like why would God want me to go through this you know, but on the other hand I feel like I did do something wrong so now I have to pay for it and this is just my way of getting back on my feet. Anyway, what do you think???

 

[Kitty.]

Hey Aaliyah,

In my opinion, OCD (including religious OCD) is a mental disorder. When sin was brought into the world, so were disorders and illnesses. Disorders and illnesses are because of sin in the world.

That right there is a brain scan of OCD.

Satan can cause doubts in our mind definitely.
Can Satan cause religious OCD? I don't know.

I do think that OCD is a true mental disorder.


You sound like you have a classic case of religious OCD. Have you seen a professional about this yet?

 

[frank1234]

Although dark forces can influence or harass us believers, but a lot of our issues stems from basiclly not being renewed in our minds.Few things I noticed in the things you have written about. I just quickly mention them here.
1.sounds like you are very meticulous and even scared about doing things right to make sure The Lord is not displeased(which is an over-sensetive consciesness to sin and wrong doings).
2.You feel you have done things wrong in the past and now God is punishing you for the things you have done wrong(which is looking at God as a punisher instead of God of mercy and love).
I think you are right. This is a religeous OCD. It seems you are very anxious of God punishing you(because you have done many wrong things in the past and perhaps have paid for it) and now you are afraid of doing things wrong so your mind has created a system of fear(which is the basis for religeous OCD) in order not to do things wrong any more. And now you have to be over cautious and anxious to make sure you do things right. And you have also added to the mix image of an angry God who is ready to punish you at every turn you do some thing wrong.
So to combat this you have to remember that God is a God of love and He loves you very much, and If He corrects you, He does it out of His compassion and love for you and not to destroy you. Yes, you should try to do things right, but not out of a sense of panic and anxiety and fear of God punishing you, but out of a sense that life is just more enjoyable when we do things right, because after all, God loves us to enjoy the life He has given us.The reason we obey God is because we know He is our Father and we love Him and that He loves us and that He wants what's best for us. So when we obey Him, we receive His blessings. But we should be careful not to get into an area of perfectionism out of fear of doing things wrong. Because, even when we do things wrong, we can confess them and The Lord is merciful and He does forgive us. You should pray and study more perhaps on God's grace and how much The Lord loves His children.
By the way everything I wrote about, I already have and am going through them and so I am not just lecturing you. God bless you dear one.

 

[Aaliyah]

It is true. I feel like in a way I am doing this because I didn't know what to do anymore. I was in a very bad place. Now I feel like I am doing a lot better. I am very paranoid but I always have been like this a little bit but it has gotten out of hand. I do feel like some amount of fear is good. Like fear the Lord and fear things that may take you away from him. I would just say I am a VERY careful person.

 

[gracealone]

Hi Aaliyah,
It does sound very much like you have OCD. Panic attacks indicate that you have an anxiety disorder... I get them too. Anxiety disorders usually carry with them co-morbid overlapping conditions. For instance I have panic disorder and pure "O" OCD. Those are my two biggies but I also suffer from mild social anxiety, genralised anxiety and a few specific phobias. When my OCD is in a bad flare I will often suffer from clinical depression. So it's very likely that you are experiencing OCD. A professional could confirm this.
The most likely reason that you are experiencing religious OCD is because your faith in Jesus Christ is the most important thing in your life. OCD will usually latch onto things that are precious to us like our loved ones, our health and our personal relationships, including the one we have with Jesus.
Having religious OCD doesn't necessarily mean that you are scripturally or spiritually flawed. It means that there is a chemical imbalance in your brain which is causing you to feel anxious 24/7. That chemical imbalance and the free floating anxiety it creates will, eventually latch onto or attach itself to a theme. The feelings that surround the theme will create an intense feeling that it must be attended to as if it's an extreme emergency. The excessive/compulsive activities that it will push you to do are done in order to gain a temporary feeling of reassurance. But everytime you do those things you are validating the doubts, questions and fear in such a way that they loom ever larger and even more threatening in your brain. For many people with religious OCD they become hyperscrupulous about their every thought and action. This is just like a person who washes their hands excessively or avoids all possible contact with anything that might contaminate them. The contamination that your OCD is threatening you with is that you might be spiritually contaminated to the point that God might abandon you to hell.
The treatment for this type of OCD is the same as it is for other types. This might or might not mean meds. depending on the severity of your disorder and the effect it is having on your overall quality of life. This will generally always mean that you need to learn how to respond to the obsessions in the proper way through learning exposure and response prevention therapy.(ERP) This will also mean that you learn to make some practical lifestyle modifications in order to keep your serotonin levels up.

The most important thing that it will mean is learning to live with an affliction for which God's grace is more than sufficient. It means understanding that in this affliction His strength can and will be made perfect in you.
Praying for you,
Mitzi

It is true. I feel like in a way I am doing this because I didn't know what to do anymore. I was in a very bad place. Now I feel like I am doing a lot better. I am very paranoid but I always have been like this a little bit but it has gotten out of hand. I do feel like some amount of fear is good. Like fear the Lord and fear things that may take you away from him. I would just say I am a VERY careful person.

 

[QUannie]

Although dark forces can influence or harass us believers, but a lot of our issues stems from basiclly not being renewed in our minds.Few things I noticed in the things you have written about. I just quickly mention them here.
1.sounds like you are very meticulous and even scared about doing things right to make sure The Lord is not displeased(which is an over-sensetive consciesness to sin and wrong doings).
2.You feel you have done things wrong in the past and now God is punishing you for the things you have done wrong(which is looking at God as a punisher instead of God of mercy and love).
I think you are right. This is a religeous OCD. It seems you are very anxious of God punishing you(because you have done many wrong things in the past and perhaps have paid for it) and now you are afraid of doing things wrong so your mind has created a system of fear(which is the basis for religeous OCD) in order not to do things wrong any more. And now you have to be over cautious and anxious to make sure you do things right. And you have also added to the mix image of an angry God who is ready to punish you at every turn you do some thing wrong.
So to combat this you have to remember that God is a God of love and He loves you very much, and If He corrects you, He does it out of His compassion and love for you and not to destroy you. Yes, you should try to do things right, but not out of a sense of panic and anxiety and fear of God punishing you, but out of a sense that life is just more enjoyable when we do things right, because after all, God loves us to enjoy the life He has given us.The reason we obey God is because we know He is our Father and we love Him and that He loves us and that He wants what's best for us. So when we obey Him, we receive His blessings. But we should be careful not to get into an area of perfectionism out of fear of doing things wrong. Because, even when we do things wrong, we can confess them and The Lord is merciful and He does forgive us. You should pray and study more perhaps on God's grace and how much The Lord loves His children.
By the way everything I wrote about, I already have and am going through them and so I am not just lecturing you. God bless you dear one.

Great advice and great way of putting it!!!!