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Can Christianity Cure Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?: A Psychiatrist Explores the Role of Faith in Treatment

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I enjoyed this book since I have suffered from OCD and take medication for it. I am also a committed Christian. I have also read several other OCD books such as Stop Obsessing! and The Doubting Disease. The book was valuable in demonstrating that religion doesn't cause OCD. I would agree that whatever you fear the most would be the content of your obsessions and compulsions. There's no need for psychiatrists to purge your religious beliefs to cure OCD. The author shows that Luther, Bunyan, and Therese had textbook OCD and overcame it by trusting in God with their obsessions. They gave the obsession and outcome into God's hands and trusted in Christ's righteousness as being their righteousness. I struggled with the Calvinistic bent Bunyan and Luther have. They seem to trust more in God's sovereignty over ALL areas of life, whereas I still allow for free will. I admit that my OCD would be less intense if I were a Calvinist, but I'm not still not convinced. I do believe this would be a great read for a Christian with OCD. The author doesn't push "trust therapy" (my own term) to the exclusion of other therapies (medication, cognitive-behavioral, etc.) but mentions that "trust therapy" leads to spiritual growth. This is a very important point. I think the book could be reduced in length because the "trust therapy," but it's still a fairly quick read. It is written on a layman's level. If you suffer from OCD, may God show his grace to you. And remember, don't give up.

As a Christian who has been affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since the age of fourteen, I was biased against this book because of its title. The last thing the church needs is more of the dangerous just-have-faith-and-your-mental-disorder-will-disappear nonsense. I was even more skeptical when I was told that the author had made his case on the basis of three historical figures, from diverse centuries, whom he alleged had all overcome OCD through faith. I expected to this book to be weak, at best.
What a pleasant surprise to find that, aside from the misleading title, this volume is actually a thoughtful work on the Christian's practical response to living with OCD. It is not the author's intent to offer easy answers, false hope, or quack cures. He does not denigrate nor seek to replace the conventional treatments of medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy, which are respectfully and ably described with examples from his own practice as a psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of OCD. Rather, Dr. Osborn seeks to explore the intricate interrelationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder and faith. That relationship is depicted as a two-way street in which the experience of OCD challenges, shapes, and ultimately strengthens the Christian's faith, while faith becomes a valuable tool for coping with obsessive fears and the resulting anxiety and depression.
This "reciprocal relationship" is depicted through the biographies of "three of the greatest luminaries in the history of the Christian religion - Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and Saint Therese of Lisieux." The author devotes a full chapter to each biography. Quoting extensively from their own writings, he demonstrates that all three displayed the classic symptoms of what is now recognized as obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, "and all found the same way to overcome it through centering their lives on a single magnificent Christian truth." For Martin Luther, it was faith alone; for John Bunyan, the righteousness of Jesus Christ; for Saint Therese, the "Little Way" of childlike dependence on God's mercy. All three found that their desperate internal struggles forced them to look outside of themselves for assurance. In so doing, each transferred the responsibility - for both eternal salvation and day-to-day struggles with obsessions - from self to God. Dr. Osborn contends that this transfer of responsibility is a highly effective treatment for OCD, consistent with modern research on cognitive-behavioral therapy.
In standard cognitive-behavioral therapy, a person with OCD learns to recognize the obsessions as symptoms of a brain disorder rather than as being realistic concerns, and to refrain from performing compulsive behaviors in response to such obsessions. Many people with OCD know that their intrusive, obsessive thoughts are not rational, and yet they can't help feeling threatened by the thoughts and taking on the responsibility for neutralizing or "undoing" them through the performance of compulsive behaviors. As psychologist Paul Salkovskis says, "Intrusive thoughts are mistakenly interpreted as indicating that a person may be responsible for harm to self or others" - harm that can only be avoided by the repetitive mental or physical actions known as compulsions. By learning to understand that the obsessive thoughts are the meaningless reflection of a malfunctioning brain, and that they do not represent any actual danger, these individuals find freedom from the crushing weight of unwarranted personal responsibility. No longer must they check the stove repetitively to ensure that it does not erupt into flames and burn the house down; an intrusive thought about the stove is now a symptom, not a clarion call to action.
Some OCD researchers, including the renowned expert Dr. Stanley Rachman, have experimented with another means of freeing their patients from bondage to their obsessions: urging such patients to transfer responsibility to someone else. For example, the compulsive stove-checker mentioned above may agree to hand over all responsibility for the stove's maintenance to another person, and no longer hold herself accountable for any disasters concerning it. Dr. Rachman has found that such a course of treatment may lead "within minutes to completely normal use of the stove." However, this transfer of responsibility is generally unworkable as it requires that the OCD sufferer have a trusted friend who is willing and able to assume responsibility for his or her worst fears. Few mortals would or could take on such a burden indefinitely.
Dr. Osborn posits that responsibility for obsessions and their feared outcomes may instead be transferred to God in a faith-based "therapy of trust." This approach is similar to cognitive-behavioral therapy in that it begins by recognizing obsessions for what they are, and discourages the knee-jerk reaction of performing compulsive behaviors. Yet the focus and the motivation is different. Standard therapy emphasizes rational thinking, "to question the truth of an obsession at the moment it strikes, and to replace it with a more logical and realistic assessment of the situation." Ironically, arguing with thoughts inside your head may quickly become a compulsion in itself, and like all other compulsions, it ultimately reinforces and worsens OCD rather than ameliorating it. I know this from experience, as "arguing" with the thoughts was one of my own compulsions in the early days. Rather than gaining freedom from my intrusive thoughts, I became more enslaved. The responsibility for "logically" challenging them was more than I could bear, and more than my family could bear.
Dr. Osborn must have been thinking of patients in a similar situation when he wrote, "Obsessionals, in fact, have great difficulty in believing any fact that directly opposes one of their obsessions. OCD sufferers cannot even take as a fact what they see with their own eyes: they can stare straight at a light switch, see that it is off, and yet fear that it is on. It is a fact that OCD sufferers have a hard time believing in facts." I was never obsessed with light switches, but otherwise this is a very good description of me when I was first diagnosed with OCD.
Although I never heard the phrase "therapy of trust" before reading Dr. Osborn's work, I can see now that my best counselors have instinctively guided me to it. In the therapy of trust, the focus is not on what you know, or how confidently you know it, but Who you know. It is a simple yet radical shift in perspective. Trusting God is a matter of the heart and the will; it goes so much deeper down than whatever passes through the brain at any given moment. It is necessary to trust Him absolutely, with no conditions whatever, and to trust Him fully, yielding all responsibility for the outcome up to Him. Such an attitude of trust is not merely a technique to be used as needed; it must become a habit of mind. After half a lifetime with OCD, I'm still developing that habit, but the need to protect myself from the dangerous intrusive thoughts is no longer all consuming, even on the rare occasions when my medication fails to prevent such intrusions. I am freed from such responsibility because God assumes it all.
This faith-based treatment really does work, and it is not new. Luther, Bunyan, and Therese each seemed to have developed his or her own variation of it, long before any real help or guidance was available to the OCD sufferer. Luther, in particular, seems to have had almost no support at all; Bunyan and Therese also fought most of their battles alone. This pattern doesn`t surprise me; even today, OCD can be a very isolating disease. Few people understand it, and the uninformed can easily do more harm than good.
I find it fascinating that while these three apparently received so little, they gave so much of themselves to building up other believers; their personal experiences of suffering were the raw material with which they transformed the world. Luther was so unflaggingly productive that some of his biographers have suspected him of also having manic-depressive disorder; yet his dynamic and disciplined energy was not typical of uncontrollable mania, and speak instead to his great dedication. Bunyan bared his soul in both autobiographical and allegorical writing; in the classic Pilgrim's Progress he embodies his own experiences of crushing personal responsibility, depression, and despair in the now well-known images of a burden, a valley of deepest darkness, and a giant's castle. Therese was only 24 and largely unknown when she died of tuberculosis, yet her the impact of her posthumous works - including her autobiography - has been so great that she is recognized as a Doctor of the Church and a beloved saint.
Dr. Osborn suggests that the church needs people with OCD to serve as reminders of what we all should know but so quickly forget: that we do not save ourselves, but must depend upon God alone. He sees in the "illness" of OCD a potentially curative power - a possibility of renewal and healing not only for the identified patient but for the church as a whole. "Obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferers, at times, think differently from other people. It is the pathological aspect of their thinking that is the subject of clinical inquiry. Yet there is, quite possibly, a powerfully creative aspect to their cognitive tendencies that we neglect, a creativity fueled by the unusually vivid real-life quality of certain of their thoughts." What an amazing shift in perspective that is - from the obvious "pathology" and "disorder" caused by OCD to the hidden potential for great insights and creative breakthroughs.
In conclusion, this book offers tremendous hope to Christians with OCD - not so much hopes of a "cure" which may or may not happen, but of an opportunity to display the grace of God while finding practical relief from the sufferings imposed by the disorder. And perhaps to build up the church along the way.

This book is incredible! I wrote several papers on this in college & desperately searched for something like this then, but there was nothing. This author does a phenomenal job of addressing the psychological and theological aspects of OCD/Scrupulosity, as well as a very thorough presentation of some of the figures in church history most impacted by this disorder. I have a degree in Biblical studies and in counseling -even more, this book IS MY STORY! I can say from a personal and professional prospective that there is no other book that addresses the subjects of OCD/Scrupulosity and Christianity as well as Dr. Osborn has done here. This book is especially a gift to Protestant Christians, as many of the other books available pertaining to faith seem to apply mostly to Catholic theology. While those books were in some ways helpful, there are distinct differences in daily experience and theological application for Protestants who suffer from OCD/Scrupulosity. I will be forever grateful for this book!

This is the very first and perhaps only product review I have and ever will do on Amazon. This book was TREMENDOUSLY helpful. It taught me things about myself that I didn't even know, along with techniques to help understand how to deal with OCD. The stories of other Christians (famous ones) who had the same problem made me feel a lot less alone. I have learned a tremendous amount from this book that I can apply in my daily living and after reading this book I have noticed improvements immediately. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you're looking for help with OCD from a Christian perspective, incorporating therapy with our God, then I highly recommend you purchase this book.

Blessings, good luck, and best regards.

I Found this book most helpful in gaining a better understanding of this condition, as it pertains to those with religous scruples. The accounts of John Bunyon and Martin Luther who were sufferers of this condition seemed to play a major role as a spring board for the grace of God in their lives. Which was very encouraging, especially when you consider that these men had such an impact on the Christian Faith.

As a sufferer of OCD since I was a child, I have often been confused, mis-diagnosed and often hopeless of every feeling "normal". Reading about such remarakble Christian figures who now are believed to have suffered from OCD was a very therapeutic experience. This book also taught me a lot about the disorder, history and treatment options. I would recommend this for any person (mostly Christian) who has OCD and their loved ones. I especially recommend it for suffers who experience religious obsessions.

This book looks mainly at three religious figures who had OCD tendencies -- Martin Luther, John Bunyan and St. Theresa, "The Little Flower" -- and demonstrates how their faith in God helped relieve them of their anxieties. It is well written and from an outstanding psychiatrist. Only problem is a number of typographical errors in the first edition. Let's hope they sell out and a better edited version is available. Jack Sullivan

The title seems simplistic to me, but a friend recommended this book. I am glad I got past the title. Osborn does an excellent job of integrating his knowledge as a physician and his Christian faith. He is well regarded professionally and has personal experience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

There are sections of the book where Osborn explores the role of faith in helping Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and Therese of Lisieux. Of course, all three lived before the diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder was developed. However, Osborn provides convincing evidence that they were sufferers who eventually found great comfort in coming to a deeper knowledge of God, particularly God's grace and Jesus' sacrifice for us.

I particularly appreciate how Osborn holds forth cognitive behavioral therapy, medication, and spiritual growth as all having merit. He does not try to play off one against another.

I have suffered from OCD for decades, but have benefited greatly from medication. Nonetheless, I was very glad I read this book.

I haven't actually been to a psychiatric doctor to be diagnosed with OCD, but from 2009-2010 I had a terrible time with what I now know is called scrupulosity. I thought everything I did was wrong. I was afraid of watching movies, having any money (not giving it all to the poor), not meditating on the Bible enough, and many other things. These thoughts plagued me constantly, and I would call my parents several times a day for reassurance that it was ok to...whatever. I felt so guilty because I had always had a great desire to have a close relationship with Christ, and now it was my Christianity which I felt had attacked me. I began to hate the Bible because of the verses that tormented me. I could never remember any verses of comfort, and if I did I would usually find some exception that made it not apply to me. This time was brought on by a series of traumatic events in my life. Over time, and with the help of some medication, I began to improve, but I still had this sense that the most precious thing to me (my relationship with God through Jesus Christ) had somehow betrayed me - that God had turned against me. This book has helped me to see that it was not God who turned against me, but OCD (which I think is both a physical and spiritual ailment), which often attacks where we are most vulnerable (in my case, my spirituality). The stories of Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and St. Teresa were extremely helpful. The author pointed me back to thing that has helped me throughout my life, but which I had lost during this two-year period - simple faith and trust in God's Fatherly love and care for me. The one problem I had with the book was that it seemed to prescribe this kind of faith and trust in a personal, loving God as an "alternative treatment plan" for psychologists to implement, when really it goes so much deeper than just "another form of therapy." I really believe that OCD is both a physical and a spiritual condition, and as far as the spiritual side of it goes, trust in God is THE answer, not just another form of treatment. But I understand that the author was trying to maintain credulity in the academic area, so can see why he approached the ending the way he did. It just seemed kind of awkward to me. However, the book as a whole was extremely encouraging to me, and I would recommend it to any OCD sufferer, especially one whose struggles take the form of religious scrupulosity.

I have been searching for a good book to address where faith and mental illness intersect for a long time. I wish I'd known about this book a long time ago. It is an easy read, very insightful and informative. I couldn't put it down!