Featured Article

According to experts, obsessions are normal thoughts exaggerated with increased frequency. Struggling with obsessive thoughts does not mean your character or morals are lacking. Anxiety stimulates obsessions. We obsess because we are afraid.

When we discover that our spouse has been unfaithful, our world as we have known it is shattered. Our belief systems are shaken and questioned. Our sense of security is gone. Our future has become an unknown. It’s easy to worry about things over and over again to the point of becoming paranoid.

Part of the solution lies in learning to separate unsubstantiated worries from truth, learning to live in the present “What’s real?” instead of living in the past, thinking of things that are only exaggerated, untrue products of our imagination.

Obsessions are like quicksand, harmful. Our minds tend to take us in the direction we choose to focus on. If while driving a car, we focus on something on the side of the road, inevitably we will steer the car off the road as well. To drive down the center of the road, we must focus on the center of the road. The same is true in other areas of life. Whatever we feed grows. What we focus on, determines the direction we are headed in. We need to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent or praiseworthy instead.

However, obsessions that come from betrayal are not going to go away, merely by willpower. We must get a grip on our problem areas and combat them with truth.

When seeking support from others, the key is to find people who will help us sort our thoughts, truth from untruth, what are the “real” problems at hand, and how can we solve those problems. Proactive discussion towards solutions is helpful. Feeding the obsession will only make it worse.

When we recognize that anxiety is the root cause of obsessions, we can understand that real healing from obsessions comes through reducing anxiety.