OCD Discussions

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Dugtrio1 said:
There are specific strategies for dealing with it; the most important step is to recognize it as OCD (compared to say, depression or generalized anxiety) and treat it accordingly. You’re in good company. 🙂
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Yes definitely! I’ve read up on this condition a lot recently and although it’s definitely related to anxiety, it’s a unique form of it.
 
Angel_Gabriel said:
My biggest issues now are germophobia and hypochondria. I go so far as to set my toothbrush far away from the rest of my family’s and wash my hand over every little thing. I’ve driven back home to check to make sure the garage door is locked or that candles are blown out and doors are locked. I check things several times.
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I hear you on those kinds of compulsions.

I’ve generally not been concerned with germs directly (though my family naturally thought I was), but the kind of contamination I obsessed over was at one point so widespread that I nearly destroyed a few expensive electronic devices in the process… 😬
 
It is much easier to give a normal Confession than to have scrupulosity. And God knows your heart.
 
Mass! Oh, Mass! I envy people who go an can enjoy being at mass or adoration. The sight of the Holy Eucharist is both a joy and a blow to my heart. I start seeing all sorts of bad words spelled out in my mind and then I spend most of the time mentally changing the letters. Controlling the compulsions ,like you say, is the only way. That is the hardest! I have been trying to not do compulsions all day, but since mine are all mental, I do them before I even notice I’ve done them. How do you keep the metal compulsions at bay? Anyone have any advice?
 
Arwing said:
I’ve generally not been concerned with germs directly (though my family naturally thought I was), but the kind of contamination I obsessed over was at one point so widespread that I nearly destroyed a few expensive electronic devices in the process… 😬
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My germophobia was pretty non-existent for a while…then I got sick with a really bad sinus infection when I was pregnant with my youngest. I coudn’t breathe, I couldn’t take the good meds, I couldn’t taste anything, I felt like I was suffocating b/c of all of it…so that triggered the germophobia to start up again…I’m now terrified of getting a sinus infection and get super crabby around anyone who is sick (hubby included)! 😦 I have to remind myself that I can take the good cold meds now which help but it’s still a problem. I just got over a bad cold a few months ago and right after I heard a bunch of people coughing during church and I refused to go up to communion b/c I didn’t want to get sick again.
 
It is so awful how it manages to latch onto any fear or doubt you have and turn it into a living nightmare. I mean, with OCD it is you cannot unthink the most weird things. No matter how weird you know they are, they just will not stop. And you get so upset you start doing all kinds of stuff just to get a brezk, which makes it worse.
 
I wish confessorts just fell from the sky! I always have the hardest time finding one, and then when I do I can’t shake the feeling that he doesn’t like me or that I am bothering him. It may be my OCD or it may be true 😅.

And I have combinations too! It’s like the evil duo with my Blasphemy and POCD. I kidd you not, they are like the two evil step sisters of my brain lol
 
Simply do not say your mental prayers or cleansing thoughts for as long as you can hold out. In time, you will find it is easier to wait, and one day you will realize “I made it through almost half the Mass before i started to panic”. It gets better but you have to let the thoughts pass by and not react. God knows your heart. Remember that.
 
I am so glad this thread is happening. It is so needed.
 
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God knows your heart, mind and intentions. Refrain from reacting. The bad thoughts are just like some drunk guy yelling about 9/11 being done by martians.
 
It’s a shame that this kind of obsessive thought seems to target such beautiful simplicity. 😦

Of course prayer and expressing reliance on the Lord’s mercy are still very appropriate, as I think you implied re: the Rosary and general prayer on another recent thread.
 
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I have been dealing with it since I can remember. It really is prominent in my daily life. Counting, organizing, socially, and the worst is the repitition of things that I have been dealing with over the years. what coincides with my OCD is my aspergers, they really bring out my depression and overthinking. I just get so sad with my social life that Its like a curse, I struggle with it so much. Lord be willing I can get through my struggles with with the love of God, our Lord is all I need.
 
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Another OCD sufferer here. I’m 57 years old and started with anxiety and a vomiting phobia as far back as I can remember. Then the obsessions and compulsions started sometime while I was in grade school. I saw two different psychiatrists back then but as far as I know, I wasn’t diagnosed with OCD yet.

Been in and out of therapy years ago, for years, with psychologists, psych nurses and social workers; some didn’t even understand OCD. One even asked me during my first visit, after already being diagnosed by someone else, “what’s OCD?” when I told her I had this. Now I see a psychiatrist and am on several meds but they really aren’t very helpful to me.
I live in constant worry and tension.

I’m reading all these posts and wish you all well.
 
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I know it 😦 this is why I’ve limited myself to what I call “ purposeful prayer” so prayers that take more than a second to say and that I have to make a clear effort to focus on. It’s like it steals from us isn’t it? I can’t help feel a little bit of sadness to think how something like my religion ,that I love so much, can have turned into something so painful. I look at people who just enjoy every second of it and it kind of hurts a little. Not for them, I’m happy for them, but I like to beat myself up sometimes lol
 
When my daughter was little i became obsessed with SIDS. I kept looking up information about it. I still have trouble talking about other thoughts i struggled with.
 
This is exactly me!! It used to take me forever to get through my rosary and I’m constantly obsessing over my confessions and the ‘what ifs’ and all the little details I forgot etc. I wish there was an off switch to the OCD!! And then I feel like I should just accept that I fully intended to confess all my sins but it can be difficult!
 
😂😂😂😂 If I ever get a tattoo be it known that this will be what it’ll say!

It’s a consoling thought, and I’m going to hold onto it for as long as I can, but at the same time I am so deep in the muck of this thing that I don’t even know my heart most of the time. I’ll just have to “accept the uncertainty ” like 99.9999% of therapists everywhere always say ahaha!
 
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That had to be so nerve wrecking for you when she asked what it was. I can’t even imagine being able to open up to someone about mine if they were attempting to treat it without knowing what it is. I wish you all the well right back! I hope your treatment starts helping more soon.
 
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