OCD Is Not Idolatry
OCD Is Not Idolatry
This disorder or its tendencies should never be labeled as idolatry.
I get why some Christian websites have articles on why OCD is a form of idolatry. But as someone who suffers from OCD tendencies, here's why that's not the case. Someone with OCD or at least the tendencies likely loves God with all their heart. Deep down, they know that they aren't perfect. Deep down, they know they haven't committed a sin and offended God. But OCD is called "the doubting disease." And people who suffer from OCD or its tendencies don't trust their own conscience. Catholic teaching states that a person's conscience can and should be trusted. And the OCD doesn't care what the person knows deep down. The doubt and anxiety must be eradicated immediately. And so the person with OCD or its tendencies ends up playing Whack-a-Mole with OCD.
Furthermore, describing the cycle of OCD as idolatry will only exacerbate moral OCD. As for other forms of OCD...
A person knows deep down that they won't harm themselves, even though the obsessions suggest they will.
A person knows deep down that they won't rape someone, even though the obsessions suggest they will.