In case you’re not sure or in case you have a TV Sunday Night movie idea of just what OCD is, let me just state that OCD is far more than a need for cleanliness and symmetry in one’s daily life. It has, over the years, morphed from being considered some sort of insanity, to a neurosis, to a chemical imbalance, to an anxiety disorder. No matter what science prefers to label it today, it is a very real source of emotional and mental torture for more than 2% of the population. While parallel fights ensue in the world of psychology and biology over just what causes OCD (genetics, viruses, environment) there is no question that the millions of people who suffer from it seek relief over and over again. For some, that relief is found via medications, changes in diet and counseling. For others, there seems to be no relief at all. For me, it was my faith in God and the plan He gave me that set healing in motion for this once OCD entrapped person.
Over 14 years ago I found relief for my OCD, without drugs. In fact, taking a medication never occurred to me. I’m not against pharmaceutical help if needed. But for me, faith was the solution. At first, I was afraid not to seek God. But it wasn’t a healthy kind of ‘fear of the Lord’; it was a deep alarming fear of God, of people, places, death, circumstances…almost everything. Some people are so plagued by religious fear due to their OCD that they never get past the religiousness to discover God and freedom through Him. I was once in that place too.
OCD manifested in many other ways in my life besides what I now know was merely 'religious obsession and fear'. (What I have now is faith and belief, not religion.) My memories of suffering with OCD stretch back to the age of 8. With each passing year my compulsive behaviors became worse. By the time I was 30 I was nearly fully home-bound, unable to keep a regular job and afraid of everything.
Fear – that’s the driving force behind OCD. A real, succinct, deep-seeded fear of…well, anything and everything imaginable. Sometimes the fears are rational and sometimes they aren’t. But the need to control something, anything, compels the OCDer to take action…any action, in order to feel better. Hence the counting, repeating, checking, touching, cleaning, hoarding….counting, repeating, checking…
Over time I have realized that if you have a lack of faith then fear will quickly invade your mind; your waking and sleeping thoughts. I also discovered that faith is not the opposite of fear but faith IS the ability to see beyond the fear into the eyes of truth. If fear is darkness then faith is turning the lights on! And faith - that's having the courage to do something about it, even though you're afraid to. Once a person can see the lies for what they are, then the brain of that person with OCD can begin to dispel the many lies that make them feel compelled to obsessive, repetitive, nonsensical actions.
I am a seasoned, experienced, non-suffering OCDer ready to share with you the path God took me down in order to manage and heal from the inside out! The brain of someone with OCD is compelling, intelligent and sharp. I learned to use my OCD to control my Ocd! And that means you can too. God showed me how to use His Word, faith, prayer and some simple steps to help train my OCD brain to manage my Ocd without it stopping me from living. Before long, my compulsive actions and out of control thoughts that once took up 90% of my day reduced to taking up less than 10% of my day…and it still holds true today. Fear has been replaced with peace and faith has continued to grow…faith in God, faith in myself and faith in the plan He has for my life.
My quest is to help others see that OCD IS something you can live with, control, eradicate, deal with, move beyond and you CAN keep it from stealing your joy. Through faith in action, even if your faith is currently enveloped in OCD, you can find healing.
For more info on my journey, please follow this blog and check out my book, "Breaking Free from OCD" (Free in the Kindle Lending library and for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.)
You can order a softcover copy of "Breaking Free from OCD" by clicking into my Blurb page. Or email me. lifecoachinspired@yahoo.com
Interested in Life Coaching to help make a plan of action to move forward out of fear, anxiety and OCD? Email me. Check out my Life Coach Inspired info by clicking on the LifeCoachInspired webpage.
For other books by Karen, check out her author page on Amazon.com
