Hey guys, so I have been struggling with religious OCD for a while now and I have a question. So there is this YouTube channel called OCD recovery. It is an amazing channel and I just watched a video from it about breaking down your worst case scenarios. Like if you have sensory motor OCD and your afraid you are going to notice your blinking forever, you have to be okay with that worst case scenario. I was wondering how this would apply to religious OCD. I am constantly worried that I am gonna go to hell, so if I’m gonna break down my worst case scenario, do I accept the idea that I might go to hell? Do I accept the worst case scenario of being in hell. That seems crazy to me but that also probably bc I have OCD lol. I don’t know if this is reassurance seeking but does anybody have any advice.
religious OCD worst case scenario - My OCD Community
religious OCD worst case scenario
I don’t know how to answer that one but you might want to check out the new Stick with the Ick App. It launched on April 1st. It was developed by Rev. Katie O’Dunne who is a lead advocate with the IOCDF and also has OCD. The app addresses the scrupulosity theme of OCD. The group has people with OCD, their loved ones, clergy and clinicians in it. Support groups, chats, resources and webinars are offered. It’s available on Apple Play and should be available on Google Play, shortly. It can also be found at stickwiththeick.com.
You realize youtube is not a therapist, right? Worst case scenario is not an exposure therapy, it's just a youtube poster's invention. Breaking down scenarios sounds like rumination, a good therapist will tell you to stay away from that...
Hi are you seeing a therapist? I agree with Chilly Willy. You tube is not a therapist.
There are a lot of possibilities: you may go to hell, you may not go to hell, there may be a hell, there may be no hell, etc. Beliefs surely play a role in making some possibilities more credible in our eyes than others. Emotions also play a role in making some possibilities more vivid than others. For instance, if I fear snakes a lot and I walk in an area where snakes do live, the possibility of encountering one will be more present in my mind. It’s a survival mechanism. The solution would be not to feed that fear beyond what’s reasonable in order for the worst-case scenario to occupy less of a place in my mind.
The thought you might go to hell may be too difficult to accept. However, if you do nothing to feed the fear of going to hell, the possibility of going there may not grab your attention as much and as often. It may take time to get results.
As humans, we’re inclined to believe the worst-case scenario if we strongly fear something and the best-case scenario if we strongly desire something. However, emotions of the moment may distort our judgment.
While healing from OCD, we learn to accept uncertainty. So uncertainty in this case is accepting that there is a chance that you MIGHT go to hell. And if unpacking further, can you even be certain that such place as hell exists? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. The only hell I've witnessed so far is the hell we people can create on this earth, and the hell of the torture OCD served me for years and years. Religious dogma might be a thing to moderate for mentally healthy individuals, but for people with OCD it often becomes another obsession. I've been there, I've done that. Feel free to PM me.
So I wanted to reply here as a Christian. Some of the other replies give an acceptance by maybe, and I understand that but as Christian’s we believe and know there is a hell as much as heaven, so pretending there isn’t or accepting we may go there isn’t the answer for us. First let me tell you I deal with the same thing and most other Christians with OCD scrupulousity does too. You are not alone. A great online resource for me has been in the videos of Mark DeJesus, he is a pastor and has OCD himself . It is of course not to replace therapy but to be in a community just like this one. He has spent years making a huge resource library for his community. He says that he had to get to the point where he said “okay if I am going to go to hell then I am going to go there trusting and praising Jesus”. I think that’s similar to what you are saying. I personally don’t think I am there yet.
The goal with OCD as I understand it, is not to stop having thoughts but to stop engaging with them. To simply, let the thought pass through without it setting off all your bells and then start compulsions, reassurance etc. So speaking from Scripture we can know that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13). We also know that it’s nothing we do to earn our salvation but it’s freely given. (Ephesians 2:8-9). So if we didn’t earn it to begin with than even the most sinful of thoughts in the case can’t take it from us. I don’t want you to reassure yourself with the scripture but rest in them. So when the thought comes you can rest in Jesus and let it pass. This will take time and effort, I’m not 100% there myself but I know that’s the goal. I pray that any of this helps you in anyway at all.
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