Atheism can save you from Supersticious OCD

[jimmorrisonbabe]

I'd just like to post a few thoughts on how atheism can help those who suffer so badly from distressing supersticious beliefs, mainly caused by the crippling disorder that is OCD.

Over the past year I've gone through phases where I've been totally obsessed with a coincidence that happened to me when I was born. Up until last year I'd totally just see it as an interesting story and laugh whenever my parents told it, but then in 2009 I began wondering what it could actually mean... Basically when I was being born, there was a clock on the wall of the labour ward my mum was in broken the whole time at 6:08. When I was actually born, The time of my birth read 6:08pm, matching the clock. I'd never heard of anyone with the same thing happen to them, and when I started to wonder if something had planned that clock to be there, stuck at that time, I got really freaked out. Why had they chosen me? Was it a sign? Was I some kind of superior being? I felt like it meant something good if anything, but why did it have to mean something at all? I hated the thought of being involved in anything supernatural, especially at birth, cus that could mean something for the rest of my life!

Now I've never been 100% sure that these obsessions indicated definite OCD, as I have never carried out rituals or anything like that, but with this coincidence I felt like I always had to think about it, compulse thought-wise all the time, to show the 'higher power' that had broken the clock I was always paying attention to the fact I was different, and 'special', and that I had some kind of mission to carry out because of that coincidence. It made me so miserable, and recently I've had a hard time with it again but I'm getting back to normal. I found out that my parents actually exhaggerated the story, and that the battery had run out, and the time wasn't exactly on mine, just somewhere close, about five minutes out, maybe more. This has made me feel a lot better, although it still sometimes freaks me out when i think about how close it is. Back to my point, I've found atheism has helped me a lot in terms of getting me through this. I've been an atheist all my life, and even throughout these phases I always come out rational again. If there's nothing out there, no higher power, then the clock must've stopped itself, by chance, with no outside influence to show me i'm 'chosen' or anything like that. If you think about it, it was probably stuck like that for ages too, as people forget to change clocks frequently, especially in places like hospitals where all the nurses/doctors carry working personal clocks 24/7. Also, if there was something controlling the clock, at least get it spot on my birth time, right ?

I know a lot of people who have diagnosed OCD get freaked out by coincidences, as to them they have hidden magical meanings and could mean something sinister, but that's why rationality can save you from supersticion. Coincidences happen all the time, and numbers like 666, 13 don't mean anything. With atheism, there is no devil, or nothing out there to cause the coincidences, therefore they have no meaning.

Peace.

[elliebean]

If I may make a suggestion to help prevent what promises to be an interesting topic from going wildly astray in several directions:

Since OCD doesn't always manifest as a belief in the supernatural, and not all obsessive ruminations or superstitions are clear indications leading to a diagnosis of a mental disorder, I think we can talk about obsessions with coincidences and the like in regards to atheism more constructively, absent the more specialized discussion of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It's not like atheism is a cure for OCD.

Not that I have an objection to talking about OCD, but it seems to me slightly superfluous to the main gist of the OP, in spite of the (somewhat misleading?) thread title.


/self-appointed moderating


 

[Kylyssa]

OCD is simply Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  I have it, at least to some degree, though one psychologist suggested it might not exactly be OCD but a symptom of autism.  Anyway, my expression of it is common and has nothing to do with superstition.  I used to set my alarm clock at night then a few minutes later I'd find myself wondering, dude, did I set my alarm clock?  So I'd check it.  Then a few minutes later, on the edge of sleep I'd find myself wondering, did I set my alarm clock or do I just remember setting it yesterday?  Or maybe I'd be falling asleep and I'd think, ah, heck, did I lock the door when I came in?  And you can probably see where it's going.  My obsessions all had to do with checking things - did I unplug the curling iron, blow out the candle, turn off the hot glue pan?  My psychologist said these are pretty common expressions of OCD.  There's even a term for it.  It's called being a checker.  

I picked up that behavior after my skull fracture, obsessively doubting my memory.  And sometimes, my doubt was correct.  It's part of being a visual thinker, I think.  I could call to mind a thousand images of setting my alarm clock or locking my door but there was no context to any one of them that makes one door locking or alarm clock setting stand apart from the rest.  I finally solved it by putting a small tear off calendar at the door and beside my alarm clock.  Now I can just think of what the date is (or pop on my glasses and peer at the calender) and find the matching memory image.  So now I can stay in my bed instead of getting up over and over again to check the door lock.

[Whitney]

I know a lot of people who have diagnosed OCD get freaked out by coincidences,

That's because we are pattern seeking animals and lover confirmation bias....justl ike how you thought you have/had OCD and notice that coincidences peaked your interest to the level of obsession then confirmation bias makes you think that people with OCD are special in their tendency to also get freaked out by coincidence.  The truth of the matter is that almost all humans take pause when they experience a coincidence and anyone with religious tendencies will consider those coincidences spiritual in some way....sometimes even so much that they are "reborn" and obsess over their religions more than normal.

[Davin]

I have a few problems here, being an atheist does not automatically make you rational (Scientology) and OCD does have many levels. I can see how becoming rational can help with minor levels of OCD though. Sometimes people consider being compulsive as having OCD but generally people diagnosed with OCD have more than just things or doing things for no reason. To expand on Kylyssa's example: Checking if the alarm clock is on then turning it off then on in four sequences of four, then checking to see if the door is locked, unlocking it and then locking it in four sequences of four, then getting back to bed and realizing that you hadn't turned the light on and off in four sequences of four then getting up and doing that... etc. This is not something easily overcome.

And for Kylyssa, OCD like behaviors are common for almost everyone on the autism spectrum. I'm mildly autistic diagnosed as having Asperger's and I do have OCD like tendencies, along with lots of other problems (one of them is appearing rude when I am definitely not intending to).

And for the OP: I think becoming rational can help some people, but unfortunately there is no cure all for mental disorders, what works for one person doesn't always work for everyone else. So I'm happy for you that you were able to overcome your problems.

[Kylyssa]

Going with the reasonable explanation will always get you more to work with than going with the superstitious one will.  If you were born at the same time indicated by the stopped clock on the wall, even if you came out on the exact second it simply indicates a coincidence.  There are almost seven billion people on the planet.  Some weird looking stuff is guaranteed to happen to some of them.

Maybe belief is something that some OCD people latch onto as a "fix" for their behaviors?  I think that looking at life through the lens of superstition can make mental illness worse, though.  

Maybe it isn't atheism that is helpful but logic and reasoning?  Since atheism is often arrived at by reasoning and logic, one might also notice other life changes at the same time.

I used logic and my reasoning ability to analyze my problem (being unsure if "x" important task had been accomplished) to come up with my solution of having a visual representation of the date.  If you'll note, all of the things I had an issue with were tasks which, if left undone, could have severe consequences - I could have been late to work, someone could have entered my home, my house could have caught on fire, my workplace could have burned down - but that I did on a very regular basis.  So the OCD-like behaviors were anxiety based.  Perhaps I might have gone a different direction, addressing the underlying anxiety with religion if I had been raised in a religion.  

In fact, I have anxiety attacks and went to see a free counselor after I lost my medical insurance.  The counselor listened to my problem (memory evoking smells, sounds, proximity to men that caused irrational panic) and recommended that, during my panic attacks, I pray unceasingly and the panic would subside.  Yeah, somehow I missed that the counseling offered was religion based.  But it's a suggestion I'd gotten from others before and since.  So apparently, turning to religion to cope with mental illness is a fairly common phenomenon.

And religion seems to give mental illness a special significance.  To some religious people, mental illness isn't just the logical consequence of biology or experience, it's either a punishment, sign, or blessing from God.  My real therapists (psychologists and one psychiatrist) looked for underlying causes (there are a lot) and worked on addressing them in a non-judgmental way.  But the religious "therapist" (note to self - investigate any counselor before using their services) immediately treated it as a religious matter.  Invasive thoughts were treated as invasive entities.

It's amazing how different the same thing looks to two different people.  Through the lens of reason, I'm having issues due to physical factors (brain injury), congenital factors (autism), childhood abuse, and traumatic experiences.  Through the religious voodoo lens, I'm suffering attacks from demons because I'm not dedicated to God.

If you live your life looking through a religious lens, chances are that you'll never address the real causes of any of your problems because you won't be able to see them.  So discarding the religious lens could very well help you to overcome your problems because the causes of them will no longer be obscured by religion.

[philosoraptor]

This is why making armchair diagnoses can be problematic.  Psychological evaluations are best left to the professionals.

OCD manifests itself in many ways, with extreme religious belief being only one of them.  Not everyone who has OCD will have obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors that are linked to religion, or even have religious beliefs at all.  Lots of people have seemingly obsessive thoughts and rituals without necessarily being OCD, either.  Atheism will provide little relief for someone who has OCD and suffers from trichotillomania, or constantly worries that they left the oven or toaster on.  It's a serious disorder, and becoming an atheist is not a surefire cure.  One of the defining characteristics of OCD is that the sufferer recognizes their beliefs and behaviors as irrational, but is powerless to stop them (unless the diagnosis is OCD with poor insight, in which case they won't see the irrationality).  Atheism is not synonymous with rationality, nor is OCD synonymous with religious belief.

You said you've been atheist your whole life, and yet you admit you still had this obsession with the clock on the day you were born.  So obviously, being atheist didn't stop your own irrational fixations, so I don't know why you think it would be helpful for others who actually suffer from OCD, which I'm not convinced you do.

[hvargas]

Imagine the other newborned being exactly on time and while you're at it think of all those newborns one minute to midnight, right on midnight and one minute after midnight. Place all this times on the new year as well. Then again you can used any hours of the day to place your supersticious OCD as you call it. Most gamblers will tell you to play the numbers and to play 608.

[jimmorrisonbabe]

I'm sorry I didn't make this post clearer, I am very aware that OCD can manifest on many levels, and I'm not trying to say that atheism can save you from OCD in general, but could certainly help with supersticious worries/worries about coincidences like the one I experienced. Although it is true, like some of you have pointed out, that this isn't even necessarily true in itself, and OCD can still make the sufferer believe irrational things without a belief in God. I was just trying to make a point that being an atheist has helped me in my obsession, although people can still believe coincidences have meaning without a God.

I have thought about also looking at in this way too, though - even if there is a God, it was just a clock with its battery ran out. There wasn't even any meaningful coincidence intended, it was just a natural occurence. Anyway, it's likely it was stuck like that for ages, there could have been many babies born even closer to the time indicated.

[hvargas]

Do Coincidences occured in our life will be one of the questions and if so how do they relate to our daily living. Another question may be how are " chances and coincidences related " ?. For example, what are the chances that you and I will passed each other on the street and at the same time exchange some conversation which coincidently be about this same topic. I don't believe in coincidences cause there is no such thing but there are probabilities. The reasons for probabilities is that we occupied the same " SPACE ". That the clock batteries run out or was umplugged ( if it had been electric ), makes no difference to the fact that it stop at 6:08, and that at that hour you were borned ( near to -- whatever ). The connection and interpretations which are given by those involved is what matters.    

[Davin]

I'm sorry I didn't make this post clearer, I am very aware that OCD can manifest on many levels, and I'm not trying to say that atheism can save you from OCD in general, but could certainly help with supersticious worries/worries about coincidences like the one I experienced. Although it is true, like some of you have pointed out, that this isn't even necessarily true in itself, and OCD can still make the sufferer believe irrational things without a belief in God. I was just trying to make a point that being an atheist has helped me in my obsession, although people can still believe coincidences have meaning without a God.

I have thought about also looking at in this way too, though - even if there is a God, it was just a clock with its battery ran out. There wasn't even any meaningful coincidence intended, it was just a natural occurence. Anyway, it's likely it was stuck like that for ages, there could have been many babies born even closer to the time indicated.

I don't know if I was being rude, it wasn't my intention. I'm happy for you that you were able to rationalize around things that originally drove you to be compulsive about.

[jimmorrisonbabe]

It's ok Davin, I didn't think you were being rude, just putting some considerable points across