Prayers and Mental Illness

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KendraDZ1902

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I have a few mental illnesses and sometimes I will have compulsive thoughts. Mainly about suicide. I have talked to my therapist about this she has assured me that they are just thoughts and that they will go away. And they do. Sometimes it is a matter of hours to a matter of days.
I wouldn’t call myself suicidal when I have these thoughts. These thoughts actually scare me because I don’t want to be thinking about them. Just the other day, I started having these thoughts and I let me family know. They took everything away from me that could harm me and I was monitored while using the restroom and in the kitchen. Totally embarrassing for a 25 year old to be baby sat. 😦

Anyway, I have found that prayer helps with these thoughts. Particularly The Rosary, Guardian Angel Prayer, and the St. Michael the Archangel Prayer. I will repeat these prayers over and over, sometimes sobbing. I quit when I have calmed down.

Now to my question, are these prayers actually helping me or am I being superstitious repeatedly praying these prayers?
 
I often think about dying, and I suffer from major depression, anxiety and agitation. Most helpful for me is engaging in silent, contemplative prayer. I set aside 30-60 minutes, once or twice per day. My mind is quieted, with all worldly thoughts and images removed. With the spiritual energy of my forehead, I silently focus all my awareness on God, who dwells within me. I take meds too, but the prayer sessions that quiet my mind help me the best.

There’s an ongoing thread in this forum that discussed Centering Prayer, and I greatly recommend learning what it’s all about. The gold comes when you stop thinking, and begin to listen to the soft whispers of God from within. Not that you have to abolish all thoughts at all time periods, but go back and forth between discursive mediation and the contemplation I just described.

The Could of Unknowing and The Imitation of Christ should be all you need.

Feel free to message me if you like.

LOVE! ❤️
 
Yes, your prayers are helping you. Keep up the good work. If you are not suicidal, you might have obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is marked by intrusive, compulsive, unwanted thought. They can be swears, violent words, scruples, anything unwanted., undesirable.
Only a doctor can determine if one has OCD. With prayer, counseling and medication, this can be treated. The sufferer is NOT at fault.
 
If you need someone to talk to, if you need medications, if you need family support, if you need to build your self-worth, I pray that all your needs be met. God bless you.
 
HI Kendra,

I would think that the prayers are actually helping you.

I am sorry that you are struggling so. ((Hugs)) to you.

Anxiety disorders and depression runs in my family. My Dad used to suffer from OCD. He took medication for it, and was in therapy, too.

Hang in there, dear one.

Prayers said for you.

God bless you.
 
I would say your prayers are not at all superstitious. They are a perfectly good means of asking for help from God, Blessed Mother, and the angels. If they help you to calm down or overcome certain thoughts this is a blessing. The prayers you chose are excellent ones.
 
Mental illness and depression especially, can make negative thoughts race by. When I was in serious depression, I mainly just wanted the racing thoughts to stop. Being dead just seemed like one of several ways to accomplish that – which didn’t seem to have a downside because the racing negative thoughts would not support any hope of future improvement. :banghead:

But over time and much prayer and love and support, it got better. MUCH better. :heaven:

One thing practical your prayers may be doing in addition to communicating with God, is giving you something to focus on that relieves a bit of the negative thoughts. Anything to break the vicious cycle, if it’s anything like my experience. I wish you well; it can get better and your faith will see you through! 🙂

MS
 
jaimeleglise said:
Yes, your prayers are helping you. Keep up the good work. If you are not suicidal, you might have obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is marked by intrusive, compulsive, unwanted thought. They can be swears, violent words, scruples, anything unwanted., undesirable.
Only a doctor can determine if one has OCD. With prayer, counseling and medication, this can be treated. The sufferer is NOT at fault.
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I’m bipolar, agoraphobic, and have panic disorder. it isn’t uncommon for bipolars to be OCD, so I’ve read. I have a psychologist/psychiatrist team. The psychiatrist said that he isn’t going to rule out OCD yet, but he hasn’t given me an official diagnosis.
 
Mystical_Seeker said:
Mental illness and depression especially, can make negative thoughts race by. When I was in serious depression, I mainly just wanted the racing thoughts to stop. Being dead just seemed like one of several ways to accomplish that – which didn’t seem to have a downside because the racing negative thoughts would not support any hope of future improvement. :banghead:

But over time and much prayer and love and support, it got better. MUCH better. :heaven:

One thing practical your prayers may be doing in addition to communicating with God, is giving you something to focus on that relieves a bit of the negative thoughts. Anything to break the vicious cycle, if it’s anything like my experience. I wish you well; it can get better and your faith will see you through! 🙂

MS
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I can totally relate! I was even told by my primary care physician that since I looked forward to the afterlife, because it wouldn’t be miserable, that I was suicidal and he admitted me into the hospital.:mad: Sometimes I’ve just had enough of these thoughts. I’m so glad someone understands what I’m going through. It seems like no one ever gets me! Lol
 
Kendra, I also have anxiety and depression and the one thing that helps break the cycle for me is praying the rosary. There really is nothing else that I have tried that will overcome the strong desire to harm myself other than the rosary. Generally when I’m in that state I am crying, so I use the rosary to calm down. When that happens I am then able to open my bible and get some insperation directly from His Word.

I think God uses different ways of drawing us closer too Him and this might be the way he is drawing you.

You will be in my prayers.

Peace.
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
I can totally relate! I was even told by my primary care physician that since I looked forward to the afterlife, because it wouldn’t be miserable, that I was suicidal and he admitted me into the hospital.:mad: Sometimes I’ve just had enough of these thoughts. I’m so glad someone understands what I’m going through. It seems like no one ever gets me! Lol
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When they put me in the hospital against my will, they took me from “anxious” to “totally screwed up.”

Society likes to keep anybody who isn’t sufficiently “tidy” locked up. When I worked in youth crisis management, we used active listening and empathy and reframing; not lock and keys. In a surprisingly large number of situations, it is possible to help them see things a different way and get a glimmer of hope.

Psych techs and interns at the hospital are only “doing their job” but they also suck at listening – having been trained only to “observe” like we are lab rats. That way they can treat thousands of clones to act the same way even though all of them don’t add up to the amount of good one Good Listener would.

When I asked my SD why so-called mental health professionals were so crazy and why they couldn’t understand the simplest things I tried to tell them in reply to their questions. He said they are too specialized. A person has components that are mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and sexual. When one is messed up, some of the others usually will be, too. The “professionals” are trained in maybe one or two of these areas, and they try to see and treat the entire problem from their own expertise without knowing how to address the others.
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
I have a few mental illnesses and sometimes I will have compulsive thoughts. Mainly about suicide. I have talked to my therapist about this she has assured me that they are just thoughts and that they will go away. And they do. Sometimes it is a matter of hours to a matter of days.
I wouldn’t call myself suicidal when I have these thoughts. These thoughts actually scare me because I don’t want to be thinking about them. Just the other day, I started having these thoughts and I let me family know. They took everything away from me that could harm me and I was monitored while using the restroom and in the kitchen. Totally embarrassing for a 25 year old to be baby sat. 😦

Anyway, I have found that prayer helps with these thoughts. Particularly The Rosary, Guardian Angel Prayer, and the St. Michael the Archangel Prayer. I will repeat these prayers over and over, sometimes sobbing. I quit when I have calmed down.

Now to my question, are these prayers actually helping me or am I being superstitious repeatedly praying these prayers?
Click to expand...
Sounds like you are suffering from intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts need to be forgotten as soon as they come to a person. Those prayers you pray are very good prayers that every Catholic should be praying. Prayer will give you the peace and strength and other graces that you need to live faithfully with your sicknesses and with the intrusive thoughts that are really nothing more than intrusive … they are out of your control, and you don’t want them and immediately reject them, right.? God bless you.
 
I have ocd/anxiety and I can get pretty down and depressed with it. I have the unwanted thoughts, paranoia, obsessive thoughts etc… I understand what your going through, praying is the one thing you should never give up especially the rosary because Our Holy Mother is beside you comforting, guiding and praying for you in all your struggles. When I get bad with it I say a Hail Mary and I always wear a miraculous medal and I kiss it often which helps me also
 
It’s very nice to know that prayer has also helped others. I just had to make sure that I wasn’t being superstitious about it. :o
 
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