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I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is a chronic mental health condition that results from a biological problem with the way my brain functions. I've been through specialized treatment and for the most part I'm able to manage the disorder and live a normal life. However, due to its chronic nature, sometimes it flares up, and I've been dealing with a bad flare up for the last 2 weeks.When I'm better, I'd love to answer your questions about OCD and share ways you can help those in your congregations who are suffering with this disorder. 1 in 40 people suffer from OCD at a clinical level, so you probably have at least one in your congregation, and the disorder can be particularly excruciating for people of faith. On top of that, because the disorder is so unknown and misunderstood (for example, it doesn't have to involve things like handwashing, and very few sufferers are preoccupied with symmetry, order, etc), it takes the average person 11 years to seek treatment once they have started to experience the disorder in a way that affects their day to day lives. I'd love to share more with you, like how you can help identify someone that may be suffering and encourage them to get into treatment.

Praying for you bro

Praying for you, Bro. Dave

Sure thing Dave. As one who has suffered from mental illness myself (primarily depression but far more serious stuff including alcoholism as a young adult), I want to commend you for being transparent with your struggle.

I stand with everyone hear in prayer for ur deliverance, & i thank the L-rd that He has heard us & He will answer us Ps189:3. Others Ps 3:4, 6:9, 34:4, 99:6, 120:1, 118:21, 5:3, 140:6, 55:17, Jonah 2:2😉There are alot more, but write these down on Post-its and put them all over your house so you can see them and speak them every day and stand on them , and I agree with you in them. In Y'shua's Name amein 😠Ps 122:6

Praying for you brother. Know you are surrounded and undergirded with the love and prayers of family members in Christ. We stand with you

I was hanging out with a pastor friend last week who suffers from severe depression. We were talking about this and he said this view is basically gnosticism. He said, Yeah, if I was just a spirit, then a spiritual solution is all I would ever need. But I'm not just a spirit. I hadn't considered it from that angle before, and I thought that was pretty profound.

I appreciate that comment and also am sending up prayers for Dave. The brain is amazing, sweet, and CONFUSING. Also very hard to understand and deal with IN ANOTHER PERSON!Prayers YES Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

[quote=Da Sheik]Prayers for you Dave. The brain is like any other organ. It always amazes me when people try to reduce mental maladies to demons and such. When our chemicals are out of balance, it’s no different from a pancreas secreting too much or too little insulin. Thank you for your humility and transparency. When I returned home from Vietnam, I battled PTSD (which at the time, no one knew how to diagnose or treat), anxiety, and depression.[/quoteGreat message from Da Shiek. I am praying for you Dave. One of the smartest students in my Christian counseling program was a pharmacist. OCD was such a struggle he couldn't work full-time because he wasn't able to hand a patient a prescription without continually counting it.

I was hanging out with a pastor friend last week who suffers from severe depression. We were talking about this and he said this view is basically gnosticism. He said, Yeah, if I was just a spirit, then a spiritual solution is all I would ever need. But I'm not just a spirit. I hadn't considered it from that angle before, and I thought that was pretty profound.Thanks to everyone for your prayers. Today wasn't perfect, but it was the best day I've had since this started again. Continued prayers are very, very much appreciated. I don't recall the book, but Charles Conn wrote something that has stuck with me for decades. He said that if it is a demon that causes, say, a cold, then orange juice would have no effect on the matter.