Point of view: you’re a person with religious OCD, just going about your day. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a horrible, blasphemous thought flashes through your mind. Perhaps it is a thought that you want to worship the devil, or that you reject Christ, or a string of vile curse words against God. These thoughts frighten you and send your anxiety spiking through the roof. But worse than the thoughts themselves is the fearful question: did I MEAN to have that blasphemous thought?
Many people in the scrupulosity recovery community are greatly perplexed at this very question. The nature of “intrusive thoughts” is that they are unwanted. However, the nature of obsessive-compulsive disorder is to doubt everything that can be doubted–including our own sincerity. Intrusive thoughts intrude, scare us with their initial presence, then scare us more by making us ask, did I mean to have that blasphemous thought?
No, you didn’t mean to have that blasphemous thought. Nor did you mean to have any of the hundreds of other weird, unruly, unwanted thoughts passing through your OCD mind.
I’d like to share some key ideas that I hope will help you stop asking this question.
What the Bible Says About Intrusive Thoughts
I wish there were overt, descriptive passages in the Bible about obsessive compulsive disorder. I wish someone like doubting Thomas would have written his own epistle to answer questions about doubt and spiritual sincerity. Maybe he would have included a few verses that would help us with our nagging question, “did I mean to have that that blasphemous thought?”
But unfortunately, the Bible isn’t razor-sharp in its specificity about all topics. It gives us big, overarching principles, and then we have to use our God-given intelligence and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to apply these principles to everyday problems.
So while there aren’t any verses (that I know of) which speak specifically to the psychological phenomenon of intrusive thoughts, there are still some helpful principles.
Principle 1: God Understands
One of my favorite passages in relation to intrusive thoughts reminds us that God understands.
. . .The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.
1 Corinthians 3:20
Even the wisest and most spiritual among us will have weird, unhelpful, futile thoughts. And God understands. He knows our words before we speak them, so it makes sense to say that God knows our thoughts even before we think them.
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
Psalm 139:1-4
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
Do you think God can understand the difference between a rebellious thought and an intrusive thought? Do you think God, our Great Physician, who understands all maladies of the body and brain, knows why these thoughts pop into your head?
You might be stuck asking “did I mean to have that blasphemous thought,” but God isn’t stuck there. He already knows.
And like any good physician, He’s not blaming the patient. He’s ready to help, heal, and comfort.
Principle 2: Sometimes We Think Things We Don’t Mean
I know many people in the scrupulosity recovery community are nervous to talk about the exorcism passages in the gospels. For some, this nervousness stems from fears of becoming possessed by a demon or fears that they might accidentally pray to Satan. For others, talking about demons being cast out can trigger negative memories of attempted exorcisms that failed to help them.
Yes, there is a surprising number of people with OCD who have loving, well-meaning church pastors who try to cast out the “demon” of OCD from them. I have never yet heard anyone tell me that this worked for them. If you’re someone with OCD who benefited from deliverance ministries, please comment below. I would love to know that there was at least one. But my suspicion is that OCD is not an issue of demon possession; it’s a mental health disorder that needs to be handled kindly and gently, and sufferers should not given any more fear than they are already experiencing.
With that said, I would still like to make a brief observation about one of the Bible’s deliverance stories. You may remember the demoniac in the country of the Gadarenes. This guy was possessed by a whole legion of devils. He was so uncontrollable that he lived among the tombs, cutting himself and crying in torment. No one could bind him, even with chains, and it appears that his friends and family eventually gave up.
But then, Jesus.
The demoniac rushed towards Jesus with the strangest mix of opposing reactions. On the one hand, the Bible says that the demoniac worshipped Him. But the words that came out of his mouth seemed calculated to reject Him.
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”
Mark 5:6-7
Somewhere, deep in his heart, this man wanted deliverance. He wanted to worship Jesus in freedom. But when he opened his mouth, unwanted words tumbled out.
He wasn’t free.
But if this demon-possessed man uttered words that did not belong to him, isn’t it logical to say that people with mental health disorders can sometimes have thoughts that don’t belong to them? Certainly, the mechanism is different: in the demoniac’s case, his unwanted words were produced by the alien, demonic entities that possessed him. In our case, our unwanted thoughts are produced by the misfiring blips of underperforming brain circuitry. But the effect is the same: words, thoughts, or actions that we don’t want and don’t mean.
Once again, Jesus understood. He didn’t get offended or run away. He didn’t frown and tell the man that his words were so rude that he had committed the unpardonable sin. No, Jesus saw through the man’s struggles and glimpsed his heart.
For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” Then He asked him, “What is your name?”
And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.
So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
Mark 5:8-15
Jesus sees you, too, dear reader. He understands exactly where your thoughts are coming from. You may be wilting in self-condemnation and despair, asking every day, “did I mean to have that blasphemous thought?” “Was it really from me, or was it my OCD?” “Did I consent to that thought?” But Jesus isn’t tripped up. He knows that sometimes we think and say things we don’t mean.
Trust His Word. He’s been dealing with people like this demoniac guy long before you came along. He’s not fazed at all. He knows all your thoughts, and He still loves you.
Did I Mean to Have That Blasphemous Thought?
I’d like to share a metaphor that I think can help you with the fear of whether you meant to have that blasphemous thought or not.
Imagine that you’re in the grocery store for your weekly shopping trip. You push your squeaky-wheeled cart from one aisle to the next, checking things off your list.
Eggs. Lettuce. Apples. Oatmeal. Peanut butter.
As you peer through the glass in the frozen goods aisle, hoping to find some frozen strawberries, another shopper stops her cart beside you. Nonchalantly, she surveys the contents of your basket.
“Oh, that’s what I forgot,” she mumbles to herself. Then she reaches into your cart, takes your jar of peanut butter, and walks away.
“Hey!” You call after her, suddenly indignant. “That’s MY PEANUT BUTTER!”
Most of us can imagine how it would feel if other shoppers started taking things out of our cart. But think about it for a moment–is it really your peanut butter? Just because you saw merchandise (which belongs to the store), took it off the shelf (which belongs to the store) and placed it in the cart (which also belongs to the store), is it yours?
It’s not your peanut butter! Location does not equal ownership.
Ownership is established the moment you put your money where it matters. When you take that peanut butter jar to the checkout lane, scan it, pay for it, get a receipt, and walk out of the store–now it belongs to you.
Location does not equal ownership; ownership is established by financially committing to that product.
How This Translates to Our Intrusive Thoughts
Most of the time, people with religious intrusive thoughts make the mistake of thinking that location equals ownership. Just because the thought is locationally “in” their brain, they think it must belong to and originate from them. It’s hardly any different from feeling ownership of a store’s product just because we’ve placed it in our cart.
But our thoughts don’t belong to us unless we commit to them. We’ve got to put the money where it matters. And believe me, if you’re reading this and thinking, “wait, did I agree to the thought? Did I commit to it? Did I mean to have that blasphemous thought in my true, inmost self?” if you have to ask those questions, you didn’t commit to the thought.
By the way, the “location equals ownership” is a psychological principle that is well-known amongst salespeople (I used to work in sales). Putting your product in a person’s hands while you make your pitch translates directly into higher sales. That’s why companies allow you to test-drive and try on products. Once you have it locationally in your possession, it’s so much easier to feel that it actually belongs to you.
But it doesn’t. Not until you make the commitment.
You can have all kinds of thoughts locationally in your head without actually having committed to them. Call those thoughts “temptations,” “intrusive thoughts,” or whatever else you want to call them–they’re not yours.
What Does Commitment to a Thought Look Like?
If there is a difference between the presence of a thought and my commitment to it, we need to talk about what commitment to that thought actually looks like.
I hope to make this as easy for you as possible. Commitment to a thought or idea occurs when:
- You make external decisions/actions based on that thought, OR
- You make definite plans to act on the thought in the future
As an example, imagine Joe Schmoe the businessman and his gorgeous office secretary, Jane Schmane. Joe is already married, but he keeps getting thoughts about Jane every time they interact. At first, the thoughts bother his conscience, but as time goes on, he starts to deliberately ignore his conscience in order to make flirtatious advances.
Joe is acting out his thoughts via his behavior.
Jane accepts Joe’s advances, and soon Joe begins to make plans for how he can have an affair without his wife finding out.
These two criteria indicate that Joe has committed to his adulterous thoughts. He has acted them out, and he is making plans to go deeper into his sin.
Did I Mean to Have That Blasphemous Thought? How to Know
If you’re asking, “did I mean to have that blasphemous thought?” you’re trying to find out whether you’re guilty of the content of that thought.
And I understand. I’ve had some wild thoughts pass through my mind, too. (For the record, I bet Satan also tormented Jesus Himself with unwanted thoughts.)
But here’s the thing: most people with scrupulosity are extremely worried about whether they meant to have their blasphemous thoughts…and yet, people with scrupulosity are the least likely to ever act out those thoughts.
I mean, doesn’t it seem a little odd that you have thoughts about rejecting Christ which really bother you, and yet you keep going to church? You keep praying, agonizingly, for forgiveness? You keep reading your Bible every day, hoping to grow in grace? You keep offering your life to God as an offering?
Doesn’t that seem at least a little different from what you’d expect to see from someone who is genuinely rejecting Christ?
You can probably recognize that your life–bumpy as it may be–is still in an onward, upward trajectory towards heaven and glory. You haven’t given up yet. You keep coming back, with all of your messes and struggles, to kneel at the feet of Jesus.
That counts for something. Indeed, that’s the only thing we can do in this whole plan of salvation. We can show up.
We can’t be justified by our works. We can’t fix our problems. We can’t by any human means save ourselves.
But we can show up, empty-handed, at the foot of the cross. We can come, just as we are, and say, “Lord, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” He will then “work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
He’ll take your blasphemous thoughts away. Trust me. It might take a long time as He teaches you new mental health strategies and takes you deeper into new levels of trust, but He’ll do it.
Trust Him.
The Tricky Part
The most difficult part of dealing with religious intrusive thoughts is typically the ragged junction between failure and success. As we begin implementing techniques like response prevention, in which we learn to stop arguing with our intrusive thoughts and just let them leave the brain on their own terms, we’ll often see a change begin to take place. For some people, the intrusive thoughts will show slight signs of reduction right away. For others, the intrusive thoughts will immediately get worse.
The spiritual, conscientious person tends to have layers of worry about response prevention. “If I just let the thoughts be there without responding to them, aren’t I somehow agreeing with them?” They ask.
And I say, no.
Location does not prove ownership. A thought that is present in my brain is not necessarily “my” thought. Unless you’ve made external actions or concrete plans that prove commitment to the thought, they aren’t yours.
Keep up the good work with response prevention. Don’t be dismayed by thoughts that your fledgling successes might be a sign of spiritual disaster. As you begin to have success through non-response methods, you might get some anxieties about this. But letting the thoughts just “be there” until they exit is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. Keep it up.
Conclusion
“Did I mean to have that intrusive thought?”
No, I highly doubt it.
You don’t even need to tell me about you, about your situation, or about your specific thoughts. The very fact that you’re worried enough to ask the question is evidence that you just aren’t comfortable with your thoughts.
(It’s kind of a parallel to the truism that “if you’re worried about having committed the unpardonable sin, you haven’t.)
Jesus understands why you have these thoughts and exactly where they come from. You might be worried, but He’s not. Location does not prove ownership. Keep on pressing forward in ignoring the thoughts. Don’t argue with them or try to force them out–this is precisely the worst thing for a person with obsessive-compulsive tendencies to do! Just wait patiently for God and let Him fight your battles for you.
If you’d like to tell us about other strategies that have been helping you deal with unwanted thoughts, please feel free to share in the comments below. I always love the wealth of ideas the readers of this blog share! I hope this has been encouraging to someone. Keep looking up and I know you’ll have progressive victories over your intrusive thoughts.
Best wishes on the journey,
Hi there, I just stumbled upon this article, and it helped me tremendously. Thank you making this available.
Thx for sharing this article Julie, and Jaimie for writing it! So very helpful! Question: How long does the Master Class take? Can we do it at our own pace? Thank you!
Paul blasphemed in IGNORANT NOT WILLFULLY. I WILLFULLY blasphemed God the Father and Son, I fear I did so against the Holy Spirit WILLFULLY. I suffered so much pain and agony when I was put on a medication that made me violently angry and bitter until I was put on another med to stop that anger. While I suffered being on that wrong med and was in torment I spoke these words in mind WILLFULLY and HATEFULLY. I begged for forgiveness but don’t know if the Trinity will forgive me. I need reassurance again and again. There’s a difference between WILLFULLY sin and IGNORANT sin.
What happened? As someone who struggled with annoyance towards God this morning – though only briefly for a few seconds, and to my horror a blasphemous thought against the Holy Spirit popped in. To my meagre credit, I tried to block or modify the thought, but I was too late. So I understand how you feel. (I don’t know how willful my thought was as it happened way too fast, but it certainly repulsed me in some sense or I wouldn’t have tried to cancel it. Nonetheless the fact that I was annoyed with God, is disturbing and I am praying for mercy.)
Will pray for you. If you want to chat, feel free.
I have terrible intrusive thoughts of many kinds including those religious scrupulous ones I often try to think the opposite or rhyming neutral words that might rhyme with the words of the thought but are neutral and are different from the thought or are opposite from the thought for example just a little simple example if I think of worms I’ll think of warm mittens if I think of feces I think of Reese’s Pieces…Lol. that is one technique I have to deal with the intrusive thoughts but most of the time I just distract myself and ask Holy GOD to have Mercy. I also tell the Holy LORD that the thoughts are not mine and I do not own them that I do not accept them and that they do not identify my true nature or my beliefs and intentions. For example let’s say you live in a house with a yard-or lawn and someone lets their dog do poo poo on your grass does that mean that the poo poo belongs to you??? No what you do is you tell that person do not let your dog do its business on my grass again and you ask them to clean it up or you clean it up yourself and next time they do it you call the police on them. But let’s just say they apologize and they say they couldn’t stop the dog from doing it so you forgive them and you move on maybe you might even let them allow their dog to do poo poo on your lawn granted they clean it up granted that they clean up after their dog. It’s the same concept just because something is on your space does not mean it is yours if you don’t accept it. Let’s say they knock on your door with Chinese food and it’s not your order you can say that they are knocking on the wrong door but if you pay for that food essentially you are hijacking somebody else’s food order…Lol. but because you paid for it financially the food becomes yours and what is left is for the Chinese restaurant to resend the order to the right address. But that is not the case with intrusive thoughts they are unwanted and often go against a person’s beliefs desires and moral ethics. Thank You for your article it really helped me a lot. My apologies for the poo poo reference I hope it doesn’t affect anyone. I suffer from terrible obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD. I also was born with Autism Spectrum Disorder also known as Asperger’s. I’m a 52-year-old male living in the east coast of the United States of America.
Pienso que todos debemos de saber esto:
Dios mismo nos da la solución en su palabra en 2 corintios 10:5 derribando argumentos y toda altivez que se levanta contra el conocimiento de Dios, y llevando cautivo todo pensamiento a la obediencia a Cristo,
Esa es la clave, hay que llenarnos cada día del Espíritu Santo, mediante su palabra, solo así podremos vencer esos pensamientos y tener más la mente de Cristo, porque esto es una batalla muy fuerte que incluso la estoy viviendo, pero creo que debemos llevar esos pensamientos presos y obedecer a Dios, esforzarnos más y todos los días iniciar con los ojos puestos en su bendita palabra y en oración,
Porque no nos ha dado Dios espíritu de cobardía, sino de poder, de amor y de dominio propio” es una frase de la Biblia, 2 Timoteo 1:
Dios los bendiga y nos ayude para ganar está ballata❤️
Hola Lucia. Yo tambien sufró de pensamientos intrusos. Sufró de el Desorden Obsesivo Compulsivo. No estoy seguro como se dice en español. ¿Desorden Obsesiva Compulsiva? Yo hablo El Español Excelente. Me sorprendo que haiga una Señora Latina Parlante en la Seccion de Comentar. Te deseo mucho exito y salud. Y muchisimas graciás por Tu commentario. Que Papá DIOS Te Bendiga.
Sadly I keep having thoughts about the unforgivable sin. Saying many horrendous things about Jesus which I know aren’t true. But I’m still scared.
Great article 🥹. Thank you. These thoughts are sin and you can’t live in your sin and be committed to God. Isn’t intrusive blasphemous thoughts living in sin?
Thank you so much for your information. Some times I feel all alone with this. I just want to be a good child of God.
I am just so tired of these thoughts it’s so annoying because I’m just going through a lot right now and I feel like I’m healing but anytime I’m feeling happy and better the intrusive thought just comes maybe when I sin and it just ruins my whole day. I know it’s the devil but I still feel so guilty. I’ve been talking to someone who is really advanced in Christ and it has helped me a bit but I’m still struggling just pray for me please. So much is going on
Praying for you
Gracias por brindarnos este material tan importante y beneficioso, Dios los continúe bendiciendo
Please help me… I am suffering from worrying about committing the blasphemous instrusive thoughts. I feel so guilty. There were very weird urges and obsession which happened while I was praying to GOD. And then, I wanted to stop that obsession. As the result, I didn’t know what to do, I think I decided to look at JESUS CHRIST Statue while I know the blasphemous instrusive thought would come directly. Did I commit the mortal sin and the blasphemous instrusive thought because I look at JESUS CHRIST Statue intentionally? Does looking at JESUS CHRIST Statue while I ensure the instrusive thoughts came directly look like I committed the action of blasphemous instrusive thought… I feel so concerned and guilty.
Don’t be too concerned about it, it seems that you’re simply struggling with intrusive thoughts that aren’t your fault. And even if they are, which they probably aren’t, just ask for forgiveness. God wants to forgive you. God bless you.
Absolutely not if you are worrying about it you DID NOT they are not YOUR THOUGHTS and always keep in mind that Jesus loves you🩷🩷
Bonjour,
Etant très croyant en Dieu et en Jésus et bien voici ce qu’il m’arrive :
Il y a plus de 4ans j’ai commis un péché, je l’ai tellement regretté que j’ai crue que celui-ci était impardonnable. J’ai prié à Dieu de ne plus jamais recommencé avec de la peur. La même année je priait aussi pour la paix dans le monde et pour que les mauvais esprits se repentent (Est-ce bien? ). Depuis ce temps là, je suis victime de pensées intrusives religieux… .
En mai 2024, un dimanche matin je suis allé à la messe et vers la fin un prêtre à dit : Le “Blasphème contre le saint esprit est un péché impardonnable” x2. (Sans connaitre la définition).
J’ai pensé à une offense envers Dieu que j’ai faite, toute suite une grande angoisse est venue en moi. Croyant que j’avais plus le droit au pardon à être condamné à l’enfer pour l’éternité!!!!
Depuis j’ai des TOC violent dans ma tête: Scènes et images en tout genre avec le Christ, la vierge marie et satan. Quelque chose me pousse a insulter Dieu et a rejeter le Christ à en perdre mes émotions.
Cependant je mène une lutte, thérapie chez le médecin, confession, prières et (en parler à un prête, ce que je n’aurai pas dû faire) Voir même prise de RDV auprès d’un exorciste.
Comme si j’était coupable alors en vrai je veux me débarrasser de tout ça, Merci infiniment à celles et ceux qui peuvent me sortir de là
I have tried to translate your comment with AI, so I think I understand the main ideas. I am very sorry to hear you’ve been struggling so much lately. I am glad you are seeing a therapist and OCD specialist. Speaking with your priest, as you mentioned, is not such a bad idea if he is someone who understands scrupulosity. I hope to have my materials translated into other languages with the help of AI soon so that there is more available. If it is any comfort to you, what you described does not sound strange, or unusual, or any sort of “outlier” description for people with scrupulosity. This IS what we deal with, and there are solutions.
May God guide and comfort you.
Jaimie
Hi, I’m trying really hard to overcome, however I have and do struggle with blaming myself, one time it got so bad and I was so upset with myself and thoughts I said out loud, okay I think God is??? And Holy Spirit is ??? and the word of God is??? Or His blood is??? Okay I think that, but it’s not how I think and feel about God or His Spirit or other, but if you think I think that then I do, but I hope I don’t and if I do I don’t want to. But next day was flooded with you said I think God is ??? Out loud, this caused me to compulsion acts mentally and verbally of saying these thoughts in the way I meant not in the way it sounded that I actually think these things about God. Needless to say I had a horrible experience with repeating intrusive thoughts that kept going over and over in my mind and me trying to fix them, explain them, and make them sound right only for more wrong thoughts coming through. I’m now on medication, but reading your post on as long as you didn’t commit or take ownership of thoughts externally, but I did because I think underneath I really believed these horrible thoughts must of been mine and confessed out loud for them and what they were because I felt guilty. Would love your advice please. I don’t seem to be as strong as other Christians in fighting this as they have.
Hi Jamie can intrusive thoughts be something like maybe God is telling me not to read something? And then you do. And as you do it you curse at God?
Hi Jamie my name is Gregg and after my dad passed I am under a lot of stress. I have been diagnosed with ocd and gad. Lately I’ve been having intrusive curse words before God and the holy Spirit and I’m scared. I see my psychiatrist and therapist at nocd this week. I take medicine for this. But thinking this way I can hardly eat anything, can God help me overcome this. I don’t mean to have this but it’s hard.
Gregg, hang in there. You’re not alone. You’re not losing your mind or your salvation. All the comments from others below can only help and give you hope.
Thank you so much for writing this! It has helped me in more ways than one! I have really been struggling here lately with these bad thoughts and things and it gives me so much anxiety and I’m afraid God is upset with me. Thank you thank you again for writing this! God bless you!
This helps so tremendously! Thank you. It has been a struggle since the beginning of my Christian walk. I have had to battle against OCD and the battle can be intense at times. This helps so much. Thank you again and again.
Hi! I’ve been having intrusive blasphemous thoughts for a couple weeks. I was trying to thought replace (which I now know is bad) and I was saying that “I reject OCD” but all the sudden in my mind I said “I reject the Holy Spirit” I started freaking out! I would NEVER say that or do that!! It’s like the thought came out of nowhere. It broke my heart and the anxiety I got was a lot! I got really scared. I’ve had rejection thoughts before about God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit but I was trying to thought replace and accidentally thought that in my mind. Am I okay?! I’ve begged God & Jesus for forgiveness and to please not to leave me! I love them so much! I value my faith. I’m trying to remind myself this was just a thought but it hurts. I don’t want to think those thoughts and to think I thought it “on purpose” just makes me feel even worse! I feel like my OCD wants me to think just because I “thought it” means that I “said it”. Is this the same as any rejection thought? That these rejection thoughts are just thoughts? That I just need to ignore it and move forward?
Hey my name is Robin. I’m currently suffering from this thoughts, I always try not to worry or give importance and just ignore the thoughts but there is when the enemy attacks me more. I’ve prayed a lot, sometimes talk to my self and give my self motivation and to trust God but every time I try to get closer to God is when the enemy attacks me more. They’re are really stressful. I’m currently not paying enough attention in school because of this and always at school suffer a lot of depression. I feel alone, anxious, depressed, and more of this things. I’m just tired of this thoughts, it has already been 1 month. I really Love Jesus and I don’t want to have these thoughts.
Jesus sees, understands and loves you bro!
My name is Kamal . The past 4 month are the worst in my life . I suffer from terrible thoughts like rejecting Jesus or cursing god or commuting to the devil which are thoughts that don’t make sense . I go to church I confess . I try to pray but sometimes it’s hard because the mind doesn’t calm . I feel hopeless like I M going to live like this forever . Every time I try to stop the thought it gets even worse sometimes my mind keeps pushing that I will be Muslim or hearing the sound of prayer of mosque repeating in my mind no matter what I do it won’t stop I don’t want these thoughts . I feel if I don’t fight the thoughts it will become true .
Hi Kamal, I have a special love for the people of the Middle East because I lived/worked there for seven years. I am sorry you are struggling with this. Please remember that fighting the thoughts is the worst thing you can do if you have OCD. Just let the thoughts go and do what you can to ignore them. Then they will go away on their own. They will NOT come true just because you had the thought. But the fear that they might come true is what keeps you interacting and obsessing over the thought. Just ignore them and do the next things in life that will occupy your attention in a healthy way.
Jaimie
Thank you Jaime for replying god bless you . I totally forgot that I commented here . And by chance I felt anxious today and was looking for something to comfort me and I found my old comment and you replied to me so thank you . I think lately it’s getting harder it feels like every time I overcome a thought a new one arises . It s weird it’s like every time I finally feel safe my brain just comes with something else to torment me like lately I am being attacked with all kinds of sexual thoughts to the point where I feel terrible for having them and I start to question myself if I tried to have them or consented . I had an addiction to porn and Sexual sins and thoughts something I used to struggle with and I thank god I was able to overcome them in a way but right now they come back like waves to torment me . Old visions and scenes come back every moment . It feels like my past sins keep attacking every moment for no reason . And these kind are the worst because sexual sin is something I don’t want to mess with . If I leave them without fighting feels like accepting . I don’t want them I know I used to enjoy them in the past because I didn’t have the strength to fight my addiction but now after overcoming it I feel like I don’t want them anymore . These scenes come back to the point I am nervous and anxious and start to feel guilty . I hope you can make a blog about sexual intrusive thoughts because they are something I am sure others suffer from . It’s something that torments you and brings back your past to hurt you .
To note I sometimes not sure if I really am consenting to remember them or not which makes it even harder . Like how do you believe that this is intrusive sexual thought if it’s something you used to enjoy not in a good way of course or watch that comes back in a way you no longer want . I think this is much harder than having intrusive thought that you never had before . Like it’s intrusive thought hidden in a thought or a scene you used to watch I think it’s much worse to the point I no longer know if it’s me remembering these thoughts or they are intrusive . Something else I want to share is cursing words they are no longer exclusive to god lately they have been manifesting in everything like they come whenever I feel sad angry I hear myself cursing my family my mom my father it’s like terrible like why would I curse my parents even if I was angry why would that happen I love them no matter what it just doesn’t make sense to curse them or curse god . When it happens I ask myself did I want to curse in my mind did it happen because of my anger am I responsible .so many questions . But sometimes cursing happens even if I am calm . It’s awful . Sometimes it feels like spontaneous without thinking . It s terrible Jaime and what’s even worse not being able to share this with anyone. Sometimes I keep asking why did that happen to me and I can’t find an answer. Like I hope to go back to normal to enjoy simple things I used to enjoy a movie video game anything . Right now these things feel pointless because I can’t enjoy them like used to because I can’t concentrate anymore I put pressure on myself to enjoy a series that I love or do anything I used to enjoy.
Dear Dr. Annabella. Good morning. I am writing to you from Colombia. I have reading so much about you and your text.
I am an OCD patient. Since I was a child, I saw religious images thinking about genitality. Also that it could harm children in a sexual way. Already in my youth, I am currently 46 years old, homosexuality OCD appeared. For 5 years I have been under treatment with a psychiatrist and medication, however, for 3 years a thought of being possessed by the devil has appeared. I have gone to a Catholic priest friend who has prayed for deliverance without finding any manifestation. The doubt receded but there were small things that reactivated it and it reappeared. 4 months ago it arose again but this time with a lot of “violence” making me go into deep anguish and fear. I have attended the liberation prayers on the Internet of Monsignor Rossetti, I attended another exorcist who also prayed to me without finding anything. I contacted a psychiatrist who assists exorcism in Argentina, who told me that mine was OCD (but here I questioned the doctor’s suitability), I contacted another exorcist priest in Europe who kindly responded that I should not be afraid, but the doubt It is still there and the compulsion to verify. To seek even more advice from specialists in the field. That is why I am bold enough to ask you for your professional and personal advice. Is what happens to me within my OCD diagnosis “normal”? Have you had patients or cases of people who become obsessed with being possessed? I am currently with the psychiatrist working on the EMDR technique, in addition to medication.
Sometimes coincidental or coincidental anticipatory events have happened to me in time and I think that there may be something supernatural.
God bless you forever for your message, which will undoubtedly be a before and after in my anguish to rationalize this thought. A hug full of love and thank you for your time.
Alejandro
I’m very happy to have run across this page of information, I’ve been suffering intensely over my blasphemous thoughts. I’m actually not feeling well because of them. My head feels like it’s in a fog, with a dull headache all the time. Intrusive blasphemous thoughts pound my thinking constantly. I am aty wits end thinking of severe eternal punishment. I say Oh dear Jesus what do I do. Please help me to find an answer to this horrible problem. Been reading many things on this subject and still am very uneasy and frightend.
Brian, your not alone in your suffering. How are you now? Have you let the thoughts go as the article suggested? Did God deliver you yet?