I need help with my ocd

Question

im just trying to go to the extreme and seeing how it is because i obsess about one thing for so long and wonder if i should pray for forgiveness for something. but i don't know if i've done wrong or not. i had the same thing laste time where i had the feeling of need to confess to my grandma that i masturbated. but i didn't eventually. what the worst thing that can happen if i don't pray for forgiveness?

i felt the same way when i was worrying about not confessing. does ocd give the same feeling all the time?

answerers said that i didn't need to pray for forgiveness, but once again im wondering if i might have done wrong in something that i might have done wrong. it's just too complex. i just feel so uncomfortable if i don't think over mostly the same things and know that it's ok. im also wondering if i'll feel bad if i don't pray for forgiveness because this will relieve my anxiety. i was overthinking too when i was worrying about not confessing.

i know that people with ocd pray as a compulsion, so do they pray for forgiveness or just pray when it is completely unnecessary to? is this the case for me?

i've been feeling bad lately, thinking if im just moving on without doing something i should be doing like maybe praying for forgiveness. i guess i had praying thing on my mind subconsciously. frustration was involved in something that i think i might have done wrong. i also get frustrated for other things and im wondering if i have to pray for forgiveness for not only the original one, but the things afterwards. i just think about so many things and i don't feel good if i don't go over them. i think this is it for now, but it goes on and on.

Answer 1

ocd is all in your head go to a psycotherapist they should be able to help you

Answer 2

Although th therapist could help. OCD is not in your head as the first answerer said, it is an actual chemical imbalance. There is medicine and therapy to help. good luck.

Answer 3

It's good that you realize that this is OCD.  Praying for forgiveness is your ritual and while doing it might temporarily relieve your anxiety, in the long run, it just makes things worse. (I'm talking about prayer to relieve obsessive anxiety, not prayer out of a genuine desire to connect with God.  You wouldn't be obsessing and worrying about that.)   Read Brain Lock by Jeffrey Schwartz, find a therapist experienced with OCD, and consider medication. It is curable.  Meanwhile, study hard, make some music, or go have fun with a friend, and keep telling yourself "this is just my OCD acting up".  The more you think about it, the worse it will get.

www.docdiana.com

Answer 4

I suffer from a mild OCD and other anxiety issues so I understand what you are talking about.... i also had the feeling that i needed to confess things.  

To deal with it on an immediate basis- i would instead of telling people stuff, write it down in a file on word perfect ( or you can use a journal or something) so that i felt like i was getting it off my chest but wasn't freaking other people out.

Also, on a short term basis, when you are having obsessive thoughts, try to think okay, next time i have this thought i am going to just let it pass through my mind, like i was watching a movie, i am going to aceept this thought in my mind.... this worked for me because i was like i kept waiting for the thought to come... and then it wouldn't come! short term relief

But, you should definately go to a doctor if you haven't already, because believe me, medicatio and therapy work so well and you don't realize how amazing life is when you finally don't have the symptoms anymore!

Good luck! I hope this helps a little.  

Answer 5

Sorry to hear of your difficulties.

First, be wary of receiving bad advice on OCD.  Popular perceptions of the illness frequently differ from its reality.

As someone else here has said, it is a biological problem.  It can be compounded by environmental and behavioral factors, but at its root, it's biological.  (I'm not a psychiatrist or psychologist; I speak only as a layman.)

Second, I highly recommend Ian Osborne's book _Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals: The Hidden Epidemic of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder_.

This is one of the finest books I've read on the subject.  He treats various forms of OCD in this book.  He does a particularly good job talking about how OCD can latch onto religious themes and issues and cause grief for those to whom religious belief is important.

I especially appreciate the way Osborn sympathetically approaches religious belief and shows how the problem is the OCD disorder, not a person's religion itself.  I suspect there are those out there who would unthinkingly blame religion rather than the mental disorder.  Osborn avoids that pitfall -- a move that is both sympathetic and clinically accurate.

Third, I would recommend the yahoo user group known as "The Scrupe Group".  This is a group for people suffering from OCD that has latched onto religion as its theme or focus.  The group takes its name from "scrupulousity", one of the specific terms used to describe religious obsessions and compulsions.  It is a Christian support group run by a Lutheran minister; even if you belief system is different, you might find useful stuff for you there.

Here's the site:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/the...

Fourth, and finally, I recommend you of course speak with a qualified therapist (but be careful of all the bad ones out there!).  But I also suggest you learn about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  Osborne and others talk about this treatment plan, and it can be quite helpful (even if it is somewhat difficult at times).

Good luck!