Praying

[yellow369]

Hello,

I havent been disgnosed with OCD, i havent even told anyone that i think i have it but i wanted to see if anyone had any similar experiences or thinks this sounds like ocd or even if anyone had any advice.. so here goes: I have to pray every night, i have done for as long as i can remember, none of my family are religious and i dont go to church or anything but i have to pray every night. It started with 1 or 2 prayers and it has just got progressively worse, i now have a very very long prayer that i have to say every night, i have to pray about literally everything, like protecting my family and keeping everyone and everything safe. Its just lists and lists of things and if anyone could hear me saying it they would laugh. Recently it has got worse (i think that ocd can get worse with stress- i have been stressed about revision for my AS exams and that i cant tell anyone about this) I have to repeat parts of the prayer over and over because it doesnt feel right or because i have intrusive thoughts like, for example the word 'knife' or 'death' will pop into my mind so i will have to repeat that part of the prayer. I also seen to be obsessing over my mouth and swallowing at the moment (i know it sounds weird) but i seem to get stuck just swallowing over and over until its right so that i can continue praying, i also just get stuck and have to repeat parts of prayers over until its right. Its just exausting especially when i want to go to sleep. I do have other things that i think relate to ocd but i just wanted to share this at the moment, any comments would be appreciated a lot, thanks

[Guest Nathan]

Hello yellow

as we say here, we cannot actually diagnose you with OCD, but based on what you've said, i'd suggest going to see a doctor about this. strangely i can't associate with everyone else in that my OCD was in fact exactly the same during my exams, but anyway, considering it's stressing you, and taking up what seems to be a fair bit of time, it's probably likely you have a case of OCD. For now, i'd just recommend to try and combat the thoughts, i don't have any experience with religious compulsions so i can't give exact advice apart from book a doctors appointment asap because the sooner you see them, the sooner something could be done about it!

[yellow369]

Thanks, i know i need to tell my parents but i haven't told anyone. The thing is, it will be very difficult to tell anyone because one of the main things is that i think i have pocd :/ when i first started having these fears it was horrible, i was so anxious, thinking that maybe horrible people started out as being anxious that they would become horrible people and therefore i would if that makes sense. It hasnt been so bad since i found this website and over the last year this aspect hasnt been so bad as i know im not the only one however, i still have avoidance, i cant hug my sister ever- i also cant even imagine me being able to have children in the future. So i have no idea how i would even begin to explain all of this to anyone..

[Guest insane-in-the-membrane]

Hiya, I had exactly the same thing, and I had OCD, so I guess that suggests that you might have it too, but go see a doctor first to confirm. And don't worry, with help it can be easily overcome!

[Guest ChelseyRain36]

Hi, I have religious OCD, and I have to pray every night too. Your story sounds so similar to mine, and although I have made progress and I don't have to pray so much, I still feel I have to pray about everything and every one. My family is religious, but no one else in my family has to pray all the time. So it does sound like OCD, but yes, you should go to a doctor get it diagnosed, and if it is OCD, hopefully you can begin to get better.