Priests with psychology degrees

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I’m sorry to hear that April :confused:. I hope you’re doing better now, and I hope this doesn’t stop you from going back to confession. Like you said, the poor priest was caught off guard by the beast we carry and had no way of knowing that you were already being tormented. I’m sure if he had known he would’ve been different. It’s scary being hospitalized for this stuff. I have been hospitalized too and they took away everything in the room, curtains, my clothes, call light. Turns out they had me under “ homocidal thoughts” and had two cops watching me outside of my room in the ER. It did infect make me feel more like a psycho than I already did. I was also misdiagnosed with GAD on that occasion. The OCD life is a hard life.
 
Having said all that, there are priests with mental health backgrounds. Can you call your diocese and ask if they know of one? You don’t need to specify - I’ve sought out similar for dealing with depressive and anxious behavior after trauma. And I know a priest who doesn’t know what’s going on can be really hard. Energy/motivation issues and trauma issues can both do that - a lot of people, priests included, don’t really get that sometimes “can’t” is literal in ways that don’t make much sense to mentally healthy people. I’ve had the challenge of explaining that by “can’t” I mean “my breathing starts going out of control and the language processing bit of my brain literally stops functioning.”

Priests can sometimes try to be firm in ways that are bad for mental health where the person really doesn’t have a lot of control, and it adds a lot of extra guilt. I don’t know of any mental health disorder that’s helped by extra guilt.
 
That’s a really good idea and I will definitely do it! Guilt is terrible and honestly, I have no doubt deadly. I hope you’re doing well with your illness :(. But this is why I hope this thread reaches the young men on here who post about wanting to become priests. Eventually someone like us will walk into their confessional and open our soul to them. This is something that like you mentioned can be emotionally and physically difficult. Add on top of that, that we need good Catholic therapists too! I’ve actually been told that my religion agravantes my conditon by someone who was secular. Mental illness is a lonely place to live.
 
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I lucked out. Our Bishop out where I converted was actually promoting the study of mental health among the priests there. They also sponsored group programs jointly led by a priest and a trained therapist - these were popular with non-Catholic Christians as well.

Misunderstood religion can aggravate mental illness. And sometimes broad approaches can catch people that aren’t really what they’re aiming at. That’s part of why it’s good to find people who can guide you properly.
 
I never liked how many popular Protestant preachers - have Doctor - in front their name -

Sorry to hear about your situation April,
I do think there are Catholic psychologists out there -
I would NOT go to a atheist psychologist - no way.
And hopefully, the confession box, wont seem like a torture chamber…anymore…😮
 
No BlackFriar, it’s a reply to the first few comments I just couldn’t figure out how to get the thing going.
 
You can mention your condition to the priest before confessing and even tell him you’re not sure where your culpability ends and illness begins.
Then he can take it from there.
:pray:t2::pray:t2::pray:t2:
 
DarkLight said:
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CatholicTurk:
I’m not trying to encourage you to continue doing anything illegal (and i hope you’re not),
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Having read about pure-O OCD, unwanted compulsive thoughts are an issue. I don’t know OP specifically, but repeatedly imagining yourself doing horrible things and being unable to stop the thoughts is very common. People with this condition don’t really have a desire to do whatever they’re imagining, but many are concerned that others might think they do intend to do it.

For example, a man might picture himself brutally assaulting his beloved wife. He would never do such a thing, but it is difficult to explain to other people that he has the image in his mind of doing so and can’t make it go away. (Pure O thoughts often have a trend of being focused on whatever behavior is most repulsive to the individual - often violent or sexual behaviors.)
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Oh Lord, i think your explanation has just diagnosed me… 😳
I have had OCD since very early on, but never knew this kind of stuff was actually part of it, also. Though mine is not as severe, i have always had weird and unwanted images, as well. So help me God 🤦‍♂️
 
You should watch the video above and see if it matches your symptoms because then you can go to get it checked out. If it’s not that severe, you may even be able to get rid of it almost entirely!
 
April29 said:
You should watch the video above and see if it matches your symptoms because then you can go to get it checked out. If it’s not that severe, you may even be able to get rid of it almost entirely!
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I had not seen the video earlier, thank you for pointing it out. I have just finished watching it, and i can tell you that i definitely have mild symptoms of the Pure-O 😦 I didn’t know this was actually part of my OCD, also. I have been beating myself for years for nothing… By the way, I am sorry for having thought that you might have been doing something you should not have done. I just hadn’t understood the nature of your problem previously.
 
Don’t you worry 🙂 I wonder the same thing sometimes too. I’m happy that this helped you! It’s so freeing in a strange way when you know it’s just your brain being weird.
 
April29 said:
Don’t you worry 🙂 I wonder the same thing sometimes too. I’m happy that this helped you! It’s so freeing in a strange way when you know it’s just your brain being weird.
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You have no idea (well actually you probably do) about all kinds of strange rituals i have just in order to deal with it. I’ve always pushed against it, though. I try not to give in to those rituals, because i have realized that the behavior gets only worse and life becomes only more complicated…
 
It just makes a mess out of things :confused:. I’m pretty sure my Pure-O is severe, and I know my main thing is pinching myself to make a thought stop, saying “No,no,no” over and over when a thought comes in, checking searios, making the sign of the cross, biting my tongue, telling G-d I don’t want the thought, telling Him what I’m going to do before a thought changes the meaning of an action, and more recently I’m isolating myself in my room from my family as much as I can because I feel like then we are both safe. And for some reason I cannot eat bananas. It’s makes me want a lobotomy lol
 
Please pray for me so this happens soon! And thank you for your advice! I will definitely look around
 
Seagull said:
I never liked how many popular Protestant preachers - have Doctor - in front their name -
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Keep in mind that that usage is older than using it for every garden variety physical and surgeon . . .

The Modern M.D. was developed specifically to borrow the legitimacy of and respect for the doctors of the university. It watered down what “doctor” had meant for millennia (both the acquisition of and contribution to knowledge).

While I, with my Ph.D, get a kick out of physicians calling themselves “real doctors” and dismissing, well, the actual doctors, as not being “real”, the trade was well worthwhile, given that modern established medicine is more likely to help than hurt the patient, as opposed to the state of that profession in the mid 19th century when the usurpation occurred.

So, no, I don’t mind physicians calling themselves “doctor”, but those of us in the older lines certainly aren’t going to stop using it.

doc hawk
 
I know Confession is an important Sacrament, but given your condition and your fearfulness involving Confession, is it absolutely necessary for you to go to Confession according to Church regulations? Must everyone go to Confession regardless of mental health?
 
I remembered another example of a priest with a background in psychology.

The Bishop welcomed a newly ordained priest who was going to start working with people investigating vocations to the Priesthood and with older Priests facing difficulties like gambling or mental illness. Maybe this is a new trend. It wouldn’t hurt calling your diocese and asking if there is a priest that you could talk to.

There are Catholic Psychologists and Psychiatrists. EWTN has one on the radio every day at Noon EST. I wouldn’t recommend listening to him. He strikes me as being a bit of an arrogant jerk. Dealing with problems like you have deserve one on one therapy and not some jerk on the radio who thinks he is Dr. Phil.
 
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