My OCD is killing me

[Hassan01]

Salam alaykom,

I’m seriously fearful, I’m in the worst situations. I’ve extreme intrusive thoughts of shirk in my mind and mostly during prayer. I am not able to say the word Allah because a lot of images are trying to be associated with. I can’t pray correctly it takes almost an hour to finish. I can’t do dhikr, read quran proprely because of the extreme thoughts I fear my salat has been corrupted. I know I’ve talked about this issue in the past, but these days it got really worse and I’m seeing a psychologist, I’ve seen him only for  just 2 sessions, we haven’t started yet any therapy just " questions/answers " about my life. I’m tired of suffering. Anyone know how to get out of this calamity? I tried meditation a bit, but thoughts are like stuck. Muslims talk about Allah, but I feel like I am so ignorant about Him. I know about the concept of Tawheed, but I am not living it because of the hard obstacles I am going through. Any advice plz?

[Hasani Samnani]

1 hour ago, Hassan01 said:

Salam alaykom,

I’m seriously fearful, I’m in the worst situations. I’ve extreme intrusive thoughts of shirk in my mind and mostly during prayer. I am not able to say the word Allah because a lot of images are trying to be associated with. I can’t pray correctly it takes almost an hour to finish. I can’t do dhikr, read quran proprely because of the extreme thoughts I fear my salat has been corrupted. I know I’ve talked about this issue in the past, but these days it got really worse and I’m seeing a psychologist, I’ve seen him only for  just 2 sessions, we haven’t started yet any therapy just " questions/answers " about my life. I’m tired of suffering. Anyone know how to get out of this calamity? I tried meditation a bit, but thoughts are like stuck. Muslims talk about Allah, but I feel like I am so ignorant about Him. I know about the concept of Tawheed, but I am not living it because of the hard obstacles I am going through. Any advice plz?

We have talked about this topics with others suffering from this same malady, but yours seems infinitely worse and debilitating. 

You need intense behavioral and cognitive therapy,   and medical therapy, would try herbal remedies first since most have a lower side effect profile and if still having issues start with psychiatrist directed pharmacological therapy, herbals should also be under a physician familiar with herbal remedies.aqqq

https://www.verywellmind.com/herbal-remedies-for-ocd-2510631

If you cannot pray easily yourself then ask your parents and innocent people to make prayers for your health and overcoming such a difficult disorder. Don't lose hope in Allah's mercy.

I love the sentence from  end of Dua Kumayl,  WA manismuhu Dawa, WA Dhikr hu Shifaa.

May Allah continue to bless and protect you from  WasWasey of your own mind.

Allah never gives us a test greater than we can bear, the harder the test,  I believe the more he loves you.

Think of the tests of Rasoolullah,  Al Imma, and other messengers.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Hasani Samnani

[Hassan01]

1 hour ago, Hasani Samnani said:

We have talked about this topics with others suffering from this same malady, but yours seems infinitely worse and debilitating. 

You need intense behavioral and cognitive therapy,   and medical therapy, would try herbal remedies first since most have a lower side effect profile and if still having issues start with psychiatrist directed pharmacological therapy, herbals should also be under a physician familiar with herbal remedies.aqqq

https://www.verywellmind.com/herbal-remedies-for-ocd-2510631

If you cannot pray easily yourself then ask your parents and innocent people to make prayers for your health and overcoming such a difficult disorder. Don't lose hope in Allah's mercy.

I love the sentence from  end of Dua Kumayl,  WA manismuhu Dawa, WA Dhikr hu Shifaa.

May Allah continue to bless and protect you from  WasWasey of your own mind.

Allah never gives us a test greater than we can bear, the harder the test,  I believe the more he loves you.

Think of the tests of Rasoolullah,  Al Imma, and other messengers.

Thank you brother,

It’s interesting what you’re recommending me, hopefully it will be affective. I will try to talk about this to my psychologist and see where it will go. All my prayers.

[VoidVortex]

make sure too you are getting b vitamins, vitamin d, fish oil, probiotics too. Your bodily health has a great impact on mental health

make sure to exercise at least an hour daily too

an important thing you should know is that these images won't go away unless you stop giving them the attention. These images pop up and they give you anxiety which causes you to do some kind of ritual to alleviate the anxiety hence you stay in salat for an hour or it takes you an hour. Basically your fear may be that you have committed kufr. This is absolutely not the case, and thoughts mean nothing. I know how scary it is so I empathise. 

don't give up on the meditation, try during meditation to sit down calmly and take deep breaths(try box breathing), and observe the thoughts that pop up. Most likely the scary thoughts will come up. Remember that Allah loves you and that he intends ease for you, and he is not a monster but wants the best for you and wants you to ignore these thoughts and its satan that wants you to get scared or part attention to these thoughts. Just observe the thoughts whilst breathing deeply, you'll feel a lot of anxiety, but you can keep practicing and over time inshallah the anxiety will decrease. Please update after trying this method.

of course what I mentioned is emotional response therapy which is probably the greatest way to tackle ocd directly. Its anxiety inducing at the start but over time you really feel that weight lifted off you. You can find an emotional response therapy worksheet online to use and track your progress. Make sure you ask your therapist about doing cbt + erp. 

alhamdulillah you came here to ask, its really important to not isolate yourself when having mental health issues as others might know the solution to treating the issue you may have. You should never suffer alone and the recovery journey is easier with other people there. 

 

[Hasani Samnani]

11 hours ago, VoidVortex said:

make sure too you are getting b vitamins, vitamin d, fish oil, probiotics too. Your bodily health has a great impact on mental health

make sure to exercise at least an hour daily too

an important thing you should know is that these images won't go away unless you stop giving them the attention. These images pop up and they give you anxiety which causes you to do some kind of ritual to alleviate the anxiety hence you stay in salat for an hour or it takes you an hour. Basically your fear may be that you have committed kufr. This is absolutely not the case, and thoughts mean nothing. I know how scary it is so I empathise. 

don't give up on the meditation, try during meditation to sit down calmly and take deep breaths(try box breathing), and observe the thoughts that pop up. Most likely the scary thoughts will come up. Remember that Allah loves you and that he intends ease for you, and he is not a monster but wants the best for you and wants you to ignore these thoughts and its satan that wants you to get scared or part attention to these thoughts. Just observe the thoughts whilst breathing deeply, you'll feel a lot of anxiety, but you can keep practicing and over time inshallah the anxiety will decrease. Please update after trying this method.

of course what I mentioned is emotional response therapy which is probably the greatest way to tackle ocd directly. Its anxiety inducing at the start but over time you really feel that weight lifted off you. You can find an emotional response therapy worksheet online to use and track your progress. Make sure you ask your therapist about doing cbt + erp. 

alhamdulillah you came here to ask, its really important to not isolate yourself when having mental health issues as others might know the solution to treating the issue you may have. You should never suffer alone and the recovery journey is easier with other people there. 

 

Actually brother @VoidVortex makes multiple very important points.

We now consider the Gut microbiome, a 2nd nervous system. We are doing research that realizes that all the same neurotransmitters in the brain are present in the Gut.

There is thinking that many neuropsychiatric  disorders are often related to changes in the Gut microbiome and why we now treat the microbiome with FMT ( considered like an organ transplant) and herbals, prebiotics and probiotics.

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Hasani Samnani

[VoidVortex]

@Hasani Samnani do you believe in conventional treatments for treating diseases like diabetes, and others and even mental illnesses. Do you believe that a different course of action should be taken. 

Wanna start a thread about this topic?

[Hasani Samnani]

8 minutes ago, VoidVortex said:

@Hasani Samnani do you believe in conventional treatments for treating diseases like diabetes, and others and even mental illnesses. Do you believe that a different course of action should be taken. 

Wanna start a thread about this topic?

I first of all believe  the Hadith that for every disease and malady Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى), in his Infinite Mercy and Kindnes , had created a cure.

We have just not discovered all of them

I believe in both conventional treatments and pharma products ( though not the biggest fan of big pharma, since for a brief time worked for a Big Pharma company and became quite jaded),  but am constantly on the lookout for alternative and century old treatments as well.

Wanna start a thread about this topic?

Sure brother,  I find that the more I learn about treatment options and the science behind how the body is created and behaves, the stronger my eeman becomes.

You first,  I'll join in

Edited August 18, 2022 by Hasani Samnani