Overcoming obsessive thoughts

[Romans58]

Hello,

I was just wondering if anyone had good insight into some obsessive thinking patterns, and how to combat them. (when i say obsessed, i am talking about dwelling on particular things that people do not normally dwell on, such as death, fears of things happening to them, dwelling on one particualar subject of discussion all the time, etc) some of this is of a highly personal nature i am sorry i cant be real specific about it. thank you for any suggestions

 

[OPC'n]

I have the same problem with some things. It's very hard! I think the only thing that we can do is be prayer warriors. I'm also starting to listen to Valley of Vision on my way to work instead of music which I listen to way too much. I'll pray for you and you pray for me!

 

[Unoriginalname]

I am also have a similar disposition to you. I would say that my obsessions are more of a dread and the fugitive mind nature. I have a constant fear that the Lord will punish me for a past sin long after I have forgotten about it and I will be exposed as the wicked and pathetic man I see in the mirror. Because of this disposition I have I cherish so much that the Lord himself remembers that we are dust and that Christ's work covers my sins.

 

[Bethel]

Memorizing Scripture and repeating it to myself.

 

[Romans58]

thanks, i appreciate all the replies, is there any scripture or any thing by baxter or similar? i know baxter had written quite a bit on the thoughts, but i wasnt sure where something like obsessiveness was located

 

[Wayne]

When I have some stupid song that I hear somewhere and can't get the tune or words out of my head, I've found singing a psalm to be an effective antidote. In the same way, memorizing a Scripture text and then meditating on that, should be very helpful with your pesky, intruding thoughts.

I would esp. suggest dwelling on the character and attributes of God.

 

[kappazei]

I would really urge you to go and speak to a Christian counsellor. Speaking to someone face-face is way more effective in dealing with something like this than asking for advice online. Scripture declares that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Galatians also declares that the flesh and the Spirit are at war and our choices in life are never free from this conflict. A good counsellor will help you sort out what's triggering the train of thoughts and help you to turn the fear over to the Lord, our Compassionate and Great High Priest who was tempted as we were.

Grace and Peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus.

 

[Miss Marple]

I agree with memorizing a few Scripture verses, or reading them aloud to yourself.

It is, I think, impossible to think of "nothing." The obsessive thoughts must be replaced with SOMETHING.

That something should be something which addresses the anxiety, if possible. For example, if you fear drowning, a verse about Jesus stilling the sea, or a "fear not" verse.

I hope it will comfort you to know that you are not alone, that many struggle with this issue, and that there is hope.

 

[JohnGill]

Hello,

I was just wondering if anyone had good insight into some obsessive thinking patterns, and how to combat them. (when i say obsessed, i am talking about dwelling on particular things that people do not normally dwell on, such as death, fears of things happening to them, dwelling on one particualar subject of discussion all the time, etc) some of this is of a highly personal nature i am sorry i cant be real specific about it. thank you for any suggestions

Dealing with your own personal CD rotation.

You can't change it. And I bet the thoughts come when you're under stress and sometimes from something completely unrelated; or when your alone and nothing really to do. All those thoughts fill up your mind cycling in an unending loop. If they're like mine, then you're probably thinking to yourself, what the devil is wrong with me? It's just the way your brain works. Which of course means there is no way for you to stop the process. I'm sure you'll get a lot of recommendations for prayer, Bible reading, etc. This next part will offend them, but it will help you. They're all good things, but the recommendation for them generally comes from a faulty assumption: do these "X" and you'll be fixed or they'll help mitigate the obsessive thinking. It won't happen. You can't "fix" this. You might as well try to fix your height or skin color.

I and some friends of mine who have the same issues have found these suggestions make the situation worse. Which of course continues the spiral downward. Your brain will obsess on what you focus. Focusing on the bad by memorizing scripture to deal with it, or praying when they occur will offer only momentary relief. Hopefully by the end of this post, and if I've made sense since I'm tired, you'll realize you don't have a problem that needs fixing, but you have a gift that needs developing.

This is the way your brain operates. Accept the fact that this will be a "problem" for the REST of your life. You'll obsess over things for your entire life. It will never change. So don't expect it to. This may sound depressing, but it really isn't. Well unless it's your 4th night in a row with minimal sleep (1 - 2 hrs). For the CD rotations of obsessive thoughts, I recommend an alternative.

The following helps me immensely. Doing this I sometimes go months without ever once obsessing over those negative thoughts. Oh they'll still pop up, but they're a nuisance then because they interrupt the important obsessions!

I pick a subject I want to focus on. It has to be something that YOU are interested in and it must be challenging. Because that's the way the CD rotation works. Nothing new going in you default to the bad CD with its screeching harpies of doom. Since obsession is natural, I automatically obsess over the new and interesting subject. Take Presuppositional Apologetics for instance. I bought & listened to almost every course Dr. Greg Bahnsen gave on the subject. Then I bought all of his books. Then I bought VanTil's books. Then I organized the structure of both in a mindmap program called "Personal Brain". This kept me from cycling the bad thoughts for almost a year. Theonomy took up about 4 months. Postmillenialism a month. Memorizing scripture based on these subjects is effective. The verses memorized may have nothing to do with the negative obsessive thoughts, but remembering them changes the CD in the rotation. Become obsessed in memorizing the verses to the point of knowing the punctuation. For this I recommend buying a Cambridge Bible KJV. Write down the info. Because memorization will also become a new CD to put in the rotation. Now it's not memorizing scripture to try and use as a temporary antidote to the thoughts you don't want. You're no longer memorizing onesy and twosy verses. You memorize books and 20 to 30 verses a day. And the obsessive part is to focus on being able to recall visually the page from your Cambridge Bible the verse is on and whether it's left or right column, top or bottom, left or right page. I recommend Romans for this to start. If you get the Cambridge Bible I have you will see it starts on the bottom third of the page while chapter 2 begins near the very end, right column, on the back of the first page on the book of Romans. Your CD rotation will have you wondering whether or not you memorized it correctly and you will need to check. You will actually feel a sense of release after checking it. Which reinforces your new obsession. You can call it the upward spiral if you wish.

For subjects such as theology, physics, calculus, German language, you want to memorize things based upon their loci. What are the loci of theology? What verses go with it? (More memorization.) You can use a Confession & Catechism for this. There's another year long program. Euclidean Geometry in the Elements gives you the loci to begin memorization of Geometry. You'll want to get some software like Personal Brain or Maltego. The goal is to make the connections visually and then like a spider walking her web trace out those connections in your mind with your eyes closed.

Right now I'm really tired from no sleep last night and only about 2 hours the night before because one of the things I'm obsessing over to replace the negative CD is memory techniques from the Scholastic period through the Puritans. Prior to William Perkins' attack on these systems they were quite varied and offered a lot of skills and were taught to many Christians.

To sum up, your brain will ALWAYS OBSESS. So either prepare to spend your life learning new and varied things or having these negative thoughts eat up a great host of your time. If you want, let me know and I'll post a list of subjects and material to help you begin the process. The first subject that helped me was computer programming. But I think you can get the same effect by studying classical logic and informal fallacies.

 

[a mere housewife]

you don't have a problem that needs fixing, but you have a gift that needs developing.

I was going to suggest something similar. Think of it as a heightened faculty for meditation; and recognise that it can be focused to either good or harmful ends.

'Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.'

I have a constant fear that the Lord will punish me for a past sin long after I have forgotten about it and I will be exposed as the wicked and pathetic man I see in the mirror. Because of this disposition I have I cherish so much that the Lord himself remembers that we are dust and that Christ's work covers my sins.

I was so glad yesterday when my pastor spoke of Psalm 25 in light of those things God remembers in the Psalm, and the things He forgets:

'Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.' -vs. 6,7

Also note that God's past is so much more 'elemental' for lack of a better word, than our own, and swallows up ours -- our sins merely reach back to our own youth: His lovingkindness and mercy for us is 'ever of old'.

 

[chuckd]

thanks, i appreciate all the replies, is there any scripture or any thing by baxter or similar? i know baxter had written quite a bit on the thoughts, but i wasnt sure where something like obsessiveness was located

Hi, I think there have been very good suggestions here as to how to combat these thoughts. As to a book request, Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners seems to be what you are looking for? It came to mind when you said this. There are online versions such as here.

 

[gordo]

Meditation helped me. Our mind goes a million miles an hour. Meditation helps slow it down. Find a quiet room and sit down. Take some deep breaths and bring to mind a short passage from scripture. A good one is "be still and know that I am God". Think about the passage. Turn it over in your mind. Repeat it a few times. Examine every facet of it. Your mind will wander and that's fine. Just bring it back to what you are focusing on. Eventually with more practice your mind will wander less and you will find you have more control over it. This, for me anyways, transferred over to other aspects of my life where my mind would run away on me.

Grace and peace to you.

 

[Frosty]

It depends. More information would be needed to give a complete answer, but one thing I would encourage you to do is to seek out Christian counseling if this type of stuff greatly affects your daily life (does not permit you to function at work, home, etc.). Not all Christian counselors are good at what they do, so try to find one you have good reviews on or one recommended by someone you trust. If this does not fully address the problem, the next thing to do would be to look into what else is out there in terms of treatment. Psychiatry and medication are often helpful for those suffering from the worst types of OCD- when unwanted thoughts consume you.

If your obsessions are over spiritual content, that doesn't necessarily mean they can be solved by praying more, reading more, etc. For people with the worst obsessive struggles this often makes the struggle worse. Studies have proven that people with an obsessive-focused OCD tend to have unwanted thoughts related to the things they care about the most- family, health, faith, and so on. For some people, trying to solve, fix, or out-logic the unwanted thought makes things worse. Learning to acknowledge the unwanted thoughts as being there but not engaging with them seems to work best. This is true for the person I know that suffers from OCD.

As Christians we tend to spiritualize everything at the expense of the rest of our being. Sin plays a part, to be sure, but to ignore the body and what science can teach us is foolish. If your obsessions are faith-related in nature, and even if not, I would recommend the work of Elyse Fitzpatrick. She is a nationally known Christian counselor/author and a Reformed believer. If you do decide to seek professional help, Christian counseling should be your first step. And depending on how bad your struggles are you should be open to the medical route, as well.

 

[a mere housewife]

If there is a possibility of OCD, I recommend this book as a thoroughly informative and helpful diagnostic: Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals: The Hidden Epidemic of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Ian Osborn: 9780440508472: Amazon.com: Books

If one has trouble reading that sort of thing without anxiety, perhaps a loved one could read it (I highly recommend that loved ones of OCD sufferers read something on the topic to get a better understanding of the sort of suffering this condition causes). OCD does have very specific diagnostic points, including physical abnormalities of the brain, which therapy and medication are often very effective in helping to address. 'Behavioral modification therapy' which does not involve any sort of Freudian psychoanalysis is highly effective with OCD sufferers, even in addressing the physical brain abnormalities. However many anxiety disorders or obsessive behaviors are not this specific issue (though often mislabeled as such). It's not that there aren't spiritual dimensions to this issue but in this case, simply refocusing the mind on good things is not effective. The mind has to be retrained.

(Naturally as with every book, discernment is needed. However this psychiatrist does write from a Christian and very compassionate & experienced -- he has dealt with this personally -- perspective, as well as writing with the understanding that OCD can be a gift. He's written another book I have not yet read and really ought to -- 'Can Christianity Cure OCD?' I think pastors would do well to have some understanding of OCD because of how it can present itself as a fear of temptation in very tormenting ways, which are due to a 'glitch' in the way the person's brain functions when presented with certain especially disturbing thoughts: as a pastoral counseling issue it would be too easy to focus on addressing an area the only real help for is to learn to ignore.)

 

[Randy in Tulsa]

May I suggest repentance, faith in Christ’s mediation for you and diligent use of the ordinary means of grace, including the word, sacraments and prayer? As these are sufficient to escape the wrath of God (Westminster LC Questions 153 and 154), they will serve to "combat obsessive thinking patterns" that are sinful. In terms of the word of God, like others, I have found that particular passages of scripture prove very helpful in stopping and continuing to overcome certain thought patterns. Three years ago, following a time of true repentance, II Peter 1:3-8 enabled me to believe that, by God's grace and the power of his Spirit, I could once again walk in a manner worthy of the calling of Christ. In terms of prayer, I found that God answers simple prayers, like show me my sin, give me a big love that really cherishes and nourishes my wife, help me this morning to turn to you first thing, before anything else, and so on. Finally, find a church (if you haven't yet) that takes the sacraments seriously. Prepare for the Lord's Supper as you would for a most important date, because that’s what it is.