Sins, Religion, & OCD

Is it a sin to have OCD?

OCD is one of the most misunderstood mental health diagnoses out there.

In our society, mental health conditions are often misunderstood and stigmatized. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of the most misunderstood. But what about when OCD intersects with religious beliefs? How do you navigate the complexities of religious OCD while staying true to your faith and getting effective treatment? In this blog post, I will share those details of Religious OCD, also known as scrupulosity, and explore the experiences shared by individuals who have grappled with the intrusive thoughts and fears associated with this condition.

What is Religious OCD?

At the core of Religious OCD lies a constant battle between faith and fear. Individuals with religious OCD may experience intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors related to their religious beliefs. The script outlines scenarios where individuals question their intentions, fear committing sins, and struggle with differentiating between spiritual convictions and OCD-induced fears.

A Glimpse Into Religious OCD

Religious OCD can manifest in everyday situations. Through storytelling and reflections on faith, this article will shed light on the internal struggles faced by those dealing with the relentless cycle of intrusive thoughts and compulsions.

 Treatment and Hope for Religious OCD

Acknowledging the intersection of faith and mental health, it is important to seek evidence-based treatment for OCD. Individuals struggling with Religious OCD should explore treatment options that align with their beliefs and values.

Breaking the Stigma: OCD is Not a Sin

It's crucial to address the misconception that having OCD is a sin. OCD is not the result of personal choice or moral failings. OCD is a medical condition that warrants professional care and support. By debunking myths and encouraging individuals to seek appropriate medical help.

Embracing Faith and Mental Health

In navigating the complexities of Religious OCD, individuals are encouraged to build a support network that honors both their faith and mental well-being. Engaging in open conversations with religious leaders and seeking information without falling into reassurance-seeking behaviors are highlighted as positive steps towards self-care and understanding.

Conclusion:

Understanding Religious OCD requires a compassionate and informed approach that integrates faith, mental health, and effective treatment. By sharing personal experiences, insights, and practical resources, individuals can take proactive steps towards managing their condition and finding hope in their journey towards healing.

In closing, it's essential to remember that Religious OCD is a complex interplay of faith, fears, and mental health challenges. By fostering a supportive and empathetic environment, we can create a space where individuals feel empowered to seek help, embrace their faith, and navigate the complexities of Religious OCD with resilience and hope.

Thank you for reading this blog post and let's continue the conversation on understanding and supporting individuals with Religious OCD.

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Sins, Religion, & OCD

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We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.

Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to N O C D dot com to get evidence based treatment.

All right. So when I'm working with someone who has religious OCD and they're questioning if they committed a sin or not let's look at what your intentions were. And one example I like to share is how when I was in high school, we were doing a partner test and in this partner test,

so my partner and I got stuck on a question, and partner and I [00:01:00] debated with each other hey, should we ask the partners across the table from us? Because this is a partner test, and they're across the table, could they be considered our partners also? And My partner beside of me did ask the pair across the table from us Hey, what did you put for question seven?

And we very sharply got a response of, I'm not going to answer that because that would be cheating. And I'm a Christian and I don't cheat. And I was like, Whoa. So I'm thinking like wowzers. Where did that come from? And then my partner beside me was like, what Aaron made me ask. So she was like quickly defending herself and throwing me under the bus.

And I was like, oh my goodness, what just happened here?

Hi, I'm Erin, licensed clinical mental health counselor and OCD specialist. I'm also a Christian, wife, mom to three, and small business owner, helping those who are overwhelmed by stress to climb out of that valley and enjoy the view. [00:02:00] Reheat your coffee and pop in your AirPods to learn how to boss up to OCD.

Our intentions were not to cheat, but more so to collaborate. Now, someone with OCD. Their doubt and fears are real, would have really latched on to that and thought, Oh, I was cheating and that's a sin. And then they may go on to do some repetitive prayers, or maybe some other type of compulsive behavior like checking, counting, tapping, etc.

And it's just an interesting story of how quickly the dynamic can change and how things can get misconstrued and OCD is the master of twisting the information and make you feel guilty and will tie up your mind and your time in trying to make it right

So the [00:03:00] conclusion here is what were your intentions? Were your intentions to cheat? Then that's one thing. But were your intentions to collaborate and discuss and try to get the best answers for your test? Yeah. Were you trying to steer someone else to sin? No. So anyway, just some things to keep in mind whenever you're trying to process and work through the religious OCD.

What were your intentions?

Welcome to another episode of Bossing Up Overcoming OCD. Today, we're going to continue the conversation about religious OCD and sins. Yeah. So it's going to be an interesting take on how OCD attaches to your sins and the thought of sins and what is a sin. All right. So last week I talked about the concept of scrupulosity [00:04:00] and explained what scrupulosity is and what religious OCD is.

Next week I'm going to talk about specific exposure and response prevention examples that you can do for religious OCD. If you are suffering from OCD or if you're a therapist and looking for ideas, religious OCD tends to show up a lot for someone who has OCD because, we're so connected with our higher power and our spiritual life and It just shows that existentialism of what's my purpose in life.

Is there something beyond this earthly life? And in today's discussion, again, I'm not going to be forcing my religious beliefs on you. But in general speaking terms, I'm going to be talking about Christian beliefs and partially my experiences with the Christian faith and interactions I've had with patients.

So with sins, it can be very [00:05:00] easy to feel guilted and like you're doing something wrong if you commit a sin. Now a sin is characterized as doing something wrong. against your higher power, against God.

You could also look at it as an immoral act that separates you from God

or an immoral act that impacts your relationship with God. And in the Christian faith, it's about growing that personal relationship that you have with God and with Jesus and trying to be more like him. All right. And someone with. OCD. Let's talk about the sin part. So in religious practices, it can be very easy as humans, like to judge people.

And it would be nice if we could leave all of the judging up to God. Now, this doesn't justify going out and doing [00:06:00] wrong things and saying only God can judge me. We're not trying to justify or excuse bad behavior. Because the other thing too, with God's judgment we've seen time and time again how his judgment happens in the Bible, and

yeah, so do you really understand what you're asking for when you say, only God can judge me? Yeah God can bring a lot of wrath and a lot of judgment

So when it comes to recognizing or exploring this idea of sin, it's what is your moral code? And with OCD we know it's dystonic, which means it goes against your moral code. But just more on a

down to earth level here. It's very easy for people to judge. And so like on the weekends, for example, we know that church traditionally happens on Sundays and people tend to judge you if you're not in church. And to be honest, I'm not in church every Sunday. Yeah. And I'll tell you [00:07:00] why. That's because my kids are in travel sports and our travel sports.

Take us out on Sundays now to each their own in making that decision. And, this is a tough decision every week. It's do we go to church? Do we go to the ball game? And it's not that we're prioritizing sports over God. Our relationship with God is still intact. But someone with OCD that can be.

Part of their ritual where like part of their ritual is to go to church every Sunday And they can't break that or else they feel like they are going to be condemned or they're committing some act of wrongdoing against God

so in our family we're go with the flow we're gonna do our best to make it to church and if we can't then we're going to make it up through a Bible reading or watching the service online and For us, it's about knowing God and doing our best in trying [00:08:00] to build that relationship with God.

It's not so much about where we are at a certain time on a certain day, but what we will do is try to build that connection and relationship with God. So that's how I spend my time on the weekends.

And now I will preface that whole story by saying that I understand that everyone has different feelings about it. And in general It's a lot more freeing whenever you're in that mindfulness state of mind and not bringing judgment to the situation. So hopefully you don't judge me for that perspective.

And I'm not going to judge you for your perspective. You do what feels right for you. And with religious OCD, what can be Very confusing for the individual is, am I having a conviction or is this OCD? And so let's talk about the difference between convictions and [00:09:00] OCD.

A conviction is a spiritual connection you

have with God and you feel this deep and firm belief or sense of certainty that you need to do something. So oftentimes, you might. Experience like this gut feeling in a way, it's a very similar experience to that gut feeling where you feel like, Oh, I need to do something for the greater good. And. In doing something for the greater good, maybe that's like volunteering in the nursery or teaching Sunday school or helping with Awana classes

or sharing your faith with someone who's a non believer. Those are examples of spiritual convictions

and with those spiritual convictions, it helps guide you in those moral and ethical Behaviors and it's also like giving you that greater sense of purpose beyond, just living your own life, but it's about trying to. Bring like the power of love [00:10:00] and compassion as a means to represent your higher power or your religious beliefs.

And we know with OCD, it's about those intrusive thoughts, images, and feelings that are involuntary. You're not trying to think about them on purpose, and they bring you stress. Okay? With a spiritual conviction, that's not going to bring you the same type of stress as OCD. Okay, so let's think about how we may feel a conviction to,

all right, let's think about comparing the example of a spiritual conviction versus a religious OCD intrusive thought, like along the lines of volunteering with church. So we may feel like Yes, I've got the gifts to lead a grief share group. Is it something that I necessarily want to do? Maybe not, but I know I have [00:11:00] the time energy and talent in order to lead the grief share group Which is a very powerful Ministry in and of itself and if you are a grief share leader, thank you for doing that because not everyone Can do grief groups.

We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting, intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.

If you think you may be struggling with Relationship OCD, there's hope. NoCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. NoCD therapists are trained in Exposure Response Prevention Therapy, the gold standard treatment for OCD. With NoCD, you can do virtual, Live face to [00:12:00] face video sessions with one of their licensed specialty trained therapists.

It's affordable and they accept most major insurance plans. Breaking the relationship OCD cycle takes effective treatment. To get started with NoCD, go to nocd. com slash savage.

Alright, so now that's what spiritual conviction sounds like and your experience may be a little bit different. Now here's what it may sound like with religious OCD. Your OCD is going to say you should volunteer to lead that grief group because if you don't you're not going to find favor with God.

You're never going to be good enough. God's not going to love you. You're not going to get God's blessings and if you don't do this bad things are going to happen. And you know what? You can fill in more blanks because OCD will never stop. Those intrusive thoughts, they're unwanted, they're distressing, they bring on mental images, and think about the fear of [00:13:00] feeling like, Oh, I'm not going to find favor with God, God's not going to love me, or whatever that looks like, whatever OCD is trying to trick you into believing.

And it's going to lead to some significant anxiety and guilt, maybe rituals or behaviors. And so you might. Say give in to that OCD thought and lead the grief share group. And then it's Oh did I not lead it perfectly enough? Did I not say the prayer right? Did I not study enough? Like you see where I'm going with this?

Like it just doesn't stop. Whereas like with a conviction, if you notice that conviction, like you can pray about it and and then whenever you're fulfilling that need or you're fulfilling that compelling act and Hey, yeah I'm feeling this conviction to lead the grief share group and then you do it and then you have a sense of peace about it, then that's your answer, but like OCD, you never have peace

[00:14:00] and the convictions, they're going to bring you positivity, they're going to enhance your spiritual life, you're going to feel closer to God. And whereas OCD, you're probably going to be experiencing more and more distress and you're feeding that OCD monster continually.

Some other takeaways here is having OCD is not a sin. It is a mental health condition. And would you judge Someone in the same way if they had diabetes, for example, like you wouldn't tell a diabetic person that they have diabetes because of sin. Now, yes, there is sin in the world and we live in a fallen world

I would hope you wouldn't go to a person and tell them that their diabetes is a result of their sin. And the other thing with OCD, you can't pray it away. OCD is a challenging mental health condition, and as I've shared before, it [00:15:00] affects millions of people worldwide. And telling someone that they should pray about it and Yes God absolutely has the power to take it from you.

Yet with the complexity of OCD in the world we live in, God also provides resources to help you overcome your OCD. And it reminds me of that story of someone who is in a flood and their house is flooding. So it's that metaphor about the drowning man. Okay, and so then his house starts to flood. He goes up to the roof. Someone on a boat comes by on a robot and they say, Hey, jump in. I can save you. And the guy on the rooftop says, no, it's okay. I'm praying to God and he's going to save me. Alright, so rowboat, rows on, and then a motorboat comes by, and the person driving the motorboat says, Hey man, jump in the boat, I can save you.

Rooftop guy [00:16:00] says no thanks, I'm praying to God, he will provide, he's going to save me, I have faith. Alright, water's rising, getting higher and higher, then a helicopter comes by, and the helicopter Pilot shouts and says, Hey, I can save you. Grab the rope. I'll lift you up. The stranded man says, No thanks.

I'm praying to God and He will provide. So the helicopter flies away. There's other people he's got to save. And then before you know it, the water rises over the rooftop. God washes the man away,

and long story short, the man ends up in heaven, and he's talking to God, and he says, I had faith that you would save me, but you didn't save me. You let me drown. I don't understand why. And God replied, I sent you a rowboat, I sent you a motorboat. And I sent you a helicopter. What more did you expect?

And it's so true! With OCD, there is help available. And [00:17:00] You may have been putting off jumping into that rowboat or jumping into that motorboat or the helicopter, and I'm here to tell you, there is help available. And you can start with my Pre Therapy Workbook. My Pre Therapy Workbook is designed to help get you oriented and introduced to the idea of therapy.

And help. give you some practical exercises to jumpstart your treatment. So with the workbook, you can potentially shave off three to five sessions because in this workbook, I have developed several worksheets of things that I actually do and work on with clients and at least the first three to five sessions and on average, You can expect to be in treatment or the average patient is in treatment 12 to 15 sessions.

And by completing these worksheets, you're already ahead of the game. And this gives you knowledge and information to help [00:18:00] propel you forward. And the great news about this workbook is it is a fillable PDF, which means you can work on it on your phone or you can work on it on your computer. You can also print it off if you have a printer available and work on it by.

hand with paper and pen and all that. And so I tried to design it with all of these varieties. Maybe you want to do both. Maybe you want to type it up and then print it and take it in or email it to your OCD specialist. All in all, Get my pre therapy workbook so that you can get started with your therapy and you don't have to put it off any longer.

Alright, other things about why you can't simply pray away OCD. There is a biological basis for OCD. There are imbalances with the brain chemicals and the neurotransmitters, like serotonin, for example. And it's not just a matter of willpower or spirituality. It's a medical [00:19:00] condition.

And with OCD, there is evidence based treatment, and that's going to look like OCD. In the form of cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure response prevention, and or medication. But the gold standard treatment for OCD is the exposure and response prevention.

These types of treatments and therapies can significantly improve your quality of life. And with OCD, we know it involves like this irrational thought pattern. Irrational means it's not logical or reasonable. And the person with OCD already recognizes that their thoughts are irrational, but they just can't get out of their head.

And, someone with religious OCD, they have distorted beliefs. And while prayer can be a great emotional support. It doesn't address the underlying thought patterns or cognitive distortions that you're experiencing, and it doesn't drive out the obsessions or [00:20:00] compulsions.

Now, in getting treatment, we can absolutely combine your faith in your treatment plan and combining your faith with these evidence based Treatment approaches is super beneficial and it can feel very encouraging that you can get treatment that aligns with your spiritual beliefs.

And whenever you're doing a consultation with a therapist, it's okay to ask them if they do Christian counseling or if they do whatever type of counseling that matches your religious practices.

Overall, faith can be a tremendous source of comfort and strength if you're dealing with OCD,

and hopefully you can build a community of people that are in your corner and also share your same beliefs.

Because when you're building up that support group and support network, you're bringing yourself out of isolation because OCD doesn't exist. drives you to feel alone, and that, that's not going to help. That's not going to help. And [00:21:00] getting you to live the life you want to live.

And also I encourage you to talk openly with your Religious leaders or maybe a youth pastor or spiritual advisor about your struggles with OCD. I'm not saying that they have to treat you but I think it could be good for you to get information about like best practices for your Religious beliefs and I've talked in a previous episode about the difference between information seeking versus reassurance seeking. As long as you get your information and you're done asking for additional reassurance and you move on That's appropriate.

We don't want to spend a lot of time trying to get reassurance and going down rabbit holes of research.

We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head [00:22:00] all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.

Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to N O C D dot com to get evidence based treatment.

Now, it's also important to remember that OCD is not a reflection of your faith or character.

It's going to be important for you to work with a mental health professional that's knowledgeable about OCD and giving you. the most effective treatment.

Okay.

OCD is not a sin.

And remember, OCD is a mental health condition that is not a result of your personal choice or any moral failings.

So if you are experiencing symptoms of OCD, it's not a sin. It's a medical condition. There are resources available. And I encourage you to seek out the appropriate [00:23:00] medical care today. Come back next week to hear examples of exposure and response prevention examples that can help you if you have religious OCD.

Thank you for listening to today's episode. This information is intended to be helpful and not a substitute for professional counseling. Before you go, kindly leave me a five star review and check out the links in the show notes to see the products that can make your small business dreams happen. Take care and see you next time.