Any Ideas?

[ATeutonicKnight]

For a long time, I read pornography. Of course, these stories used a shocking amount of slang words. What amazes me is that 99% of these words are commonly used words. And because of that, now that I’ve stopped reading these stories, every time someone says a normal sentence, I’m reminded about how sick people have ruined a few of the words in that persons’ sentence. I can’t even read prayers anymore, because many commonly used words in prayers are sexual nowadays, and it’s getting to where I hate praying because it constantly reminds me of sex. How do I stop this? I’ve asked God to help me, but it hasn’t been too successful. Any ideas?

 

[Oneofthewomen]

Get a spiritual director!!!
If everyday words are causing you this much stress, there is probably an underlying problem of scrupulosity rearing it’s ugly head.
You may also want to talk to your regular medical doctor about talking to a mental health professional. What you are relaying here, IMHO, is not normal behavior.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

For a long time, I read pornography. Of course, these stories used a shocking amount of slang words. What amazes me is that 99% of these words are commonly used words. And because of that, now that I’ve stopped reading these stories, every time someone says a normal sentence, I’m reminded about how sick people have ruined a few of the words in that persons’ sentence. I can’t even read prayers anymore, because many commonly used words in prayers are sexual nowadays, and it’s getting to where I hate praying because it constantly reminds me of sex. How do I stop this? I’ve asked God to help me, but it hasn’t been too successful. Any ideas?

Go on praying, praying, praying. If it comes to your mind this or that, never mind, do not try to resist, just go on praying, praying praying: the best defense is a good attack, used to say a famous football (the real one!) trainer.
Never give up. One day, when you see porn, you will remember prayer and stop porn.
Exactly the opposite.
If you can become addicted to porn, you may become addicted to prayer.
One more tip: on praying, put an image of Our Lady, Our Lord or other in front of you. Never take your eyes from it.
Go,go, go,: one day, you will be doing something else, and the images you have been watching (vary them every so often) will come to your mind.

 

[Paul_Infirdigno]

Tuetonic, this seems like a form of scrupolasity, as i have that aswell and i am very scrupolis, and i also had an addiction to impurities. i will pray for you, and i believe you should get a Spiritual Director (i recommend a Priest you know well) and ask for his advise, also pray to the Virgin Mary to help you, she is the pure vessel through which Jesus came to the world. we will talk about it, God willing, in the meeting. God Bless

 

[domandcarols]

Pray the rosary and focus on contemplation and also prayers devoted to Mary in general.
Personally, whenever I want to control my thoughts, Our Lady is an immediate cure.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

Get a spiritual director!!!
If everyday words are causing you this much stress, there is probably an underlying problem of scrupulosity rearing it’s ugly head.
You may also want to talk to your regular medical doctor about talking to a mental health professional. What you are relaying here, IMHO, is not normal behavior.

I do have a spiritual director. I’ve only had one meeting with him though, so I haven’t been able to address anything like this.

IMHO? I don’t have any medical problems except for one: There is a chemical imbalance in my brain that causes me to worry about others when I don’t need to. I think it has been balanced back though, because I no longer have these feelings. I am slightly scrupulous though.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

Get a spiritual director!!!
If everyday words are causing you this much stress, there is probably an underlying problem of scrupulosity rearing it’s ugly head.
You may also want to talk to your regular medical doctor about talking to a mental health professional. What you are relaying here, IMHO, is not normal behavior.

Actually, Father Vincent Serpa told me this is a cross the Lord is letting me carry. “Whenever you push these thoughts aside, you are choosing him!” He said. I just don’t know how to combat it. Because of my past life, I have random images of sex in my mind. Jason Evert said this is because of endorphins or something, and that it would go away, however, I haven’t indulged in any sin of the flesh in over two months, so maybe I have this IMHO thing you speak of. What is it, exactly?

 

[TradionalWay]

Actually, Father Vincent Serpa told me this is a cross the Lord is letting me carry. “Whenever you push these thoughts aside, you are choosing him!” He said. I just don’t know how to combat it. Because of my past life, I have random images of sex in my mind. Jason Evert said this is because of endorphins or something, and that it would go away, however, I haven’t indulged in any sin of the flesh in over two months, so maybe I have this IMHO thing you speak of. What is it, exactly?

I have heard some thing like this before as well… I believe its true

The Holy Father said in a sermon (before returning from Germany, at the airport)

Those who long for a pure heart, but suffer on account of their sins, are closer to God then those who are routine in faith

 

[Oneofthewomen]

Actually, Father Vincent Serpa told me this is a cross the Lord is letting me carry. “Whenever you push these thoughts aside, you are choosing him!” He said. I just don’t know how to combat it. Because of my past life, I have random images of sex in my mind. Jason Evert said this is because of endorphins or something, and that it would go away, however, I haven’t indulged in any sin of the flesh in over two months, so maybe I have this IMHO thing you speak of. What is it, exactly?

And that is great, and I am sure that the advice is sound, but this is not the first time you have posted a thread like this. You need to find a spiritual director and listen & obey him (I am assuming it will be a preist) and HIM ALONE, and not ask question like this on an anonymous internet forum. We don’t know you, don’t know what is going on in your personal life and, quite honestly, no one here is qualified to give you the help you are asking for.
You are a teen-age boy, “sex on the brain” is one of the pitfalls of the age. I really think you are obsessing way to much about this. To borrow from Dr. Freud- “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”.

You say you have a brain chemical imbalance- that is a medical/psycological issuse and needs attention from a medical professional.

Peace be with you on your journey.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

And that is great, and I am sure that the advice is sound, but this is not the first time you have posted a thread like this. You need to find a spiritual director and listen & obey him (I am assuming it will be a preist) and HIM ALONE, and not ask question like this on an anonymous internet forum. We don’t know you, don’t know what is going on in your personal life and, quite honestly, no one here is qualified to give you the help you are asking for.
You are a teen-age boy, “sex on the brain” is one of the pitfalls of the age. I really think you are obsessing way to much about this. To borrow from Dr. Freud- “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”.

You say you have a brain chemical imbalance- that is a medical/psycological issuse and needs attention from a medical professional.

Peace be with you on your journey.

Again, I have a Spiritual Director who is a Priest.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

Again, I have a Spiritual Director who is a Priest.

So why are you asking this question here and not e-mailing it to him?

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

So why are you asking this question here and not e-mailing it to him?

Because I don’t have his email, and he’s really too busy a person to worry about my little problems. Not only does he run a few parishes, but he is the vocations director of the diocese. Trust me, he’s got things to do and places to go. He barely gets any time at all to go on the computer. I doubt he’s been on in over a month. Getting calls to him is like calling the Pope. You either get voice mail or an assistant, and it usually takes up to a week to two weeks for him to get back to you. This is why we barely get time to speak with each other for meetings. Is it possible to have two spiritual directors? I know another good Priest in my diocese who has been the spiritual director for my father and sister.

 

[choliks]

Because I don’t have his email, and he’s really too busy a person to worry about my little problems. Not only does he run a few parishes, but he is the vocations director of the diocese. Trust me, he’s got things to do and places to go. He barely gets any time at all to go on the computer. I doubt he’s been on in over a month. Getting calls to him is like calling the Pope. You either get voice mail or an assistant, and it usually takes up to a week to two weeks for him to get back to you. This is why we barely get time to speak with each other for meetings. Is it possible to have two spiritual directors? I know another good Priest in my diocese who has been the spiritual director for my father and sister.

But if he agreed to be your SD then he will make time for you. You just have to agree when you’ll meet.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

But if he agreed to be your SD then he will make time for you. You just have to agree when you’ll meet.

That’s the thing, he said that we would meet every three months or so. Even my math-flunked brain can figure out that’s four times a year. Hardly time enough to tell him everything I need to.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

That’s the thing, he said that we would meet every three months or so. Even my math-flunked brain can figure out that’s four times a year. Hardly time enough to tell him everything I need to.

Then this is not the type of spiritual direction that you need.
You need to be seeing a regular confessor/spiritual director, at least on a monthly basis, so that you can get this scrupulosity under control.

I strongly suggest that you spend a lot less time here asking for answers from anonymous people on a forum and find a priest and a mental health counselor to help you.

 

[PiousTemplar]

For a long time, I read pornography. Of course, these stories used a shocking amount of slang words. What amazes me is that 99% of these words are commonly used words. And because of that, now that I’ve stopped reading these stories, every time someone says a normal sentence, I’m reminded about how sick people have ruined a few of the words in that persons’ sentence. I can’t even read prayers anymore, because many commonly used words in prayers are sexual nowadays, and it’s getting to where I hate praying because it constantly reminds me of sex. How do I stop this? I’ve asked God to help me, but it hasn’t been too successful. Any ideas?

Dude, I suffer from the same problem. Even prayers in latin sometimes sound like foul words.

 

[Victory9]

Have you done any penance? The most effective IMO is to fast from meat. Start out on Fridays, bread and water only for the whole day. Also, fast from alcohol, maybe pick a day on the weekend. Then as you get stronger (more disciplined) try another day of fasting from meat. Fasting from meat will help in your struggle against the flesh, while fasting from alcohol will help in the struggle of all other ‘passions’, since Satan will always take advantage of any situation in which you give up control of yourself. He knows the effects of alcohol and other intoxicants, and takes full advantages of our weaknesses.
It seems to me that though you may have repented from actively partaking in pornography, the devil will try to grab you when you least expect it. The demon of Lust is like a heavy wet blanket that sticks to you and is very, very difficult to get rid of. Even if you peel the blanket off, the fuzz remains and it itches and digs into you even when you don’t really know it’s still there. Fasting and prayer will go a long way to driving away that evil influence, as the more you are purified the stronger you will become.

 

[guanophore]

Actually, Father Vincent Serpa told me this is a cross the Lord is letting me carry. “Whenever you push these thoughts aside, you are choosing him!” He said. I just don’t know how to combat it. Because of my past life, I have random images of sex in my mind. Jason Evert said this is because of endorphins or something, and that it would go away, however, I haven’t indulged in any sin of the flesh in over two months, so maybe I have this IMHO thing you speak of. What is it, exactly?

Two months is not a long time compared to the many years you saturated your mind with the other material. The brain has thinking/imaging habits just like the body has physical habits. The brain can be retrained so that thoughts and images travel on a different path, but it requires years of practice, and discipline. If you had been a right handed batter all your life, and decided to become a left handed batter, you could not master it in two months.

Instead of trying to ward off evil, it is better to press oneself into the good. As often as you can, say your prayers aloud, very loud, if you must. Sing, chant and recite the scriptures. I found an mp3 of scripture very helpful. I also listen to the Liturgy of the Hours on iTunes.

The most helpful thing for me has been to pray in the Spirit, because this method disconnects the mind, and all the dirt it contains.

 

[pollycarp]

I think there was a program on Relevant Radio about this and it was said that memorizing bible verses could help a great deal. You might find something in the RR program archives. :twocents:

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

Then this is not the type of spiritual direction that you need.
You need to be seeing a regular confessor/spiritual director, at least on a monthly basis, so that you can get this scrupulosity under control.

I strongly suggest that you spend a lot less time here asking for answers from anonymous people on a forum and find a priest and a mental health counselor to help you.

Thanks for your help, but you’re really making me sound like a complete basket case. I’m mentally sound. There is nothing insane about me. I’m just scrupulous. I don’t need to be thrown into a mental institution. What I have is an extremely common brain chemical imbalance that causes me to worry which most people have but don’t realize.