Scrupulosity

[Warbringer]

Hello guys, i'm a Christian OCD sufferer without conditions to do teraphy, because of it i do ERP on my own. I found a problem with it: i have sexual intrusive thoughts and obssesion about sex and womans (i'm a man btw) and i can't think in exposure that isn't a clear sin. Searching i found some professionals that use pornografy to do exposured and things like that, but i know for sure this is a sin and i won't do it. My point here is: for you, that's a christian like me and have this type of thoughts and obssession what kind of exposure you do?

[Green_icecream]

Hello,

I’m a Christian as well who has struggled with sexual intrusive thoughts in the past. I know the struggle of trying to do exercises and work with therapists that are not in line with your beliefs.

My recommendation would be to identify the underlying fear. Perhaps for you that is sinning against the Lord and being separated from him. If this is the underlying fear, then I don’t think you need to be doing exercises that relate to the sexual thoughts, but that relate to the scrupulosity obsession.

One of my favorite ways to deal with intrusive thoughts of any kind is to mentally respond to it with a “oh well”, “so what”, or “maybe” attitude. It’s hard at first because you feel like you’re conceding to the bad thoughts; but the sooner you decrease your reaction to the thoughts, the sooner your brain realizes that the thought isn’t a threat. It takes time, but the goal is to resist the compulsion which signals to your brain that the anxiety you’re feeling isn’t a true threat. So I would identify your compulsions (physical or mental) and center your exercises on resisting those compulsions. Another reminder that always helps me with my thoughts is that I don’t need to figure out what they mean. So if you’re ruminating over what your thoughts mean about your character or your salvation, then just keep reminding yourself that it’s not your job to figure out what the thoughts mean/imply.

I also want to share this resource that helped me with my OCD. It’s a site specifically for Christians who struggle with OCD. It might give you more exercise ideas.

accounseling.org/mentalheal...

Hope this helps!

[deValentin]

In our Western world, sexually connoted images pop up everywhere, on TV, on the Internet, in the street, on the beach, in the mall, etc. You don’t have to look for them, they come to you. Non-pornographic magazines are full of sexually suggestive ads. So, during a day, if you live in some parts of the world, you have a lot of opportunities to be triggered and practice Response Prevention. However, it’s like everything else, there is a limit of how much triggering one can take the same day and succeed Response Prevention. It’s normal to feel sexually aroused by certain visual cues, but what you don’t want is to have it turn into an obsession. Like Green_icecream says, fighting too much a temptation, that is, over scrupulosity, may make things worse.

[Meatloafy]

Looking at porn is probably a bad idea. In general, exposing yourself to sexually explicit material is a bad idea, because it will lead to temptation. I suppose that if you're overly scrupulous, the difference between healthy exposure and unwise temptation isn't easy to see. In my experience, just going out into the real world and encountering people (including women) will provide opportunities for both. I don't think it's realistic to avoid these situations, but you might be able to use them as an exposure. It can be hard to draw the line as to where lust begins, though.

I would also suggest that if exposure isn't the way to go - and maybe it's not in this case - you could try this ICBT program. They have 12 modules that each consist of several pages of information and exercises. This is what I've been working on. Sometimes it's hard to muster the willpower to resist obsessing in exposure, and for people like you and I, who have scrupulosity, fear of sinning might make exposure too problematic. The fears of sinning might be obsessive, but could also be valid (as in the case of porn) so you may want to try to change your thinking instead. That might make it easier to tell the difference, or at least you'll be better at recognizing when you're making it all up.

icbt.online/client-work-and...

[SudoWoodo]

Hello,

I don’t really have any advice I just wanted to say you are not alone in your sexual intrusive thoughts and even tho a scrupulous person does tend to be worried about sinning, I think you are well in tune spiritually on that one and I would also consider pornography sinning. I don’t have any ERP advice because I can’t even find a therapist where I live. Let’s pray for each other dear brother.