#WellnessWednesday: Catholicism and OCD

[BethIOCDF]

The main issues are doubt and fear. Doubt is a part of healthy spiritual development. Doubt begins a spiritual quest – within it initiates and grows the hunger for a connection with God. In the spiritual journey, faith follows doubt’s lead. Fear is an adaptive human emotion. It exists to keep us alive. If there were no fear, we would not protect ourselves from a dangerous situation. We would not tend to the well-being of those we love. OCD exploits the experience of doubt and fear as something dangerous to be avoided. OCD is called “the doubting disease” – obsessively making you question things that you’re logically sure of. But at the core, doubt grows us. Fear protects us. We need every emotion that the body produces.

To alleviate the doubt and fear, you can seek counsel from trusted sources to achieve reassurance that you have not offended God. You can compulsively confess in an attempt to ensure that there is no mortal sin cutting you off from God’s sanctifying grace. You can beg God’s forgiveness and salvation through desperate, repeated prayer. You can surrender your life to these fears and the attempts to purge the feelings that cause you distress.

To read more on Catholicism and OCD, please click here: iocdf.org/faith-ocd/living-...

[80_Zil_ian]

Hello, this is a great post; thank you.

My first symptoms of OCD were religious, when I was only a child. I didn’t understood at time what was happening, but over time, I was able to experience a more typical childhood, and the OCD disappeared for more than two decades.

In adulthood, however, the OCD returned in many forms, including religious OCD. I still experience it sometimes, especially when I remember it (as many of you might know, OCD feeds on itself).

However, I ask God to forgive me and have mercy, which helps me. I even thank God for this condition because it reminds me of humility and the awareness of being an imperfect human who needs God’s mercy. This brings peace to my mind and breaks the cycle of doubt and questioning. Of course, I also rely on science to treat my OCD.

I’m not sure how it works for other religions (Christian or not), but since the Catholic Church has many rituals, traditions, and figures—like Christ, Mary, the saints, the Mass, the Eucharist, etc.—OCD can find many “targets” there.

But in my case, at least with religious OCD, I’ve managed to stop suffering so much from it. I ask for God’s mercy, and it works. I feel peace, especially when I’m in church on Sundays.