Justin’s Blog: “The Jog”

OCD can be a highly debilitating disorder- yet it is highly treatable! You don’t have to check your faith at the door to get good help.   One example is from Dr. Elizabeth McIngvale, Director of the McLean OCD Institute // Houston and Lecturer at Harvard Medical School.   She is also Founder of the Peace […]

This four part series is meant to be a brief, yet fairly comprehensive, overview into the world of uncertainty for Christians.  SUMMARY: In Part 1, uncertainty is explored as a human experience- one for which Christians do not escape simply in lieu of being a faithful follower.  Part 2 addresses what ways people generally handle […]

This four part series is meant to be a brief, yet fairly comprehensive, overview into the world of uncertainty for Christians.  SUMMARY: In Part 1, uncertainty is explored as a human experience- one for which Christians do not escape simply in lieu of being a faithful follower.  Part 2 addresses what ways people generally handle […]

This four part series is meant to be a brief, yet fairly comprehensive, overview into the world of uncertainty for Christians.  SUMMARY: In Part 1, uncertainty is explored as a human experience- one for which Christians do not escape simply in lieu of being a faithful follower.  Part 2 addresses what ways people generally handle […]

This four part series is meant to be a brief, yet fairly comprehensive, overview into the world of uncertainty for Christians.  SUMMARY: In Part 1, uncertainty is explored as a human experience- one for which Christians do not escape simply in lieu of being a faithful follower.  Part 2 addresses what ways people generally handle […]

Peter’s Paradox Peter* came to counseling and admitted he was overly obsessive about faith matters- and that obsessing itself caused problems.  But he couldn’t break free. He acknowledged the classic paradox of OCD: insight outside of the moment to see that his behavior was unreasonable, but simultaneously doubt and lack of insight during severe periods […]

I’ve got another confession to make.  No, I’m not starting the song, Foo Fighters’ “Best of You.”  I have been trying to cram WAY too much into life recently.  My brain feels that stress, and so does my body.  Blame it on the world, my environment, being “busy” with my life, my kids, my job- […]

I once again joined host Stuart Ralph in the OCD Stories podcast.  My prior one, “Faith, Spirituality and Religion in OCD Therapy” (#250), led us to go even deeper into the topic, specifically for Christians who have OCD.  These bullet points are a very rough draft of what we covered.  Here it is: Justin Hughes: Walking faithfully as […]

I just finished the soon-to-be released autobiography on a Christian’s suffering with OCD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Depression.  My connection with the author was a special one, after contributing articles to I Am Second myself, one day I looked at the related articles and discovered that someone shared publicly on their struggles with OCD.  As […]

Our Feelings and Thoughts Are Not A Guarantee In Part 1 of 2: Doubt, Fear, and Uncertainty, I emphasized a key point: Just because a problem deals with a spiritual issue doesn’t mean it must be exclusively a spiritual problem, addressed through exclusively spiritual means.   Let me add one: Just because I feel or think something […]

I am Second has graciously published my Back-to-School article: 5 Things You Need to Know About Back-to-School Anxiety Click Here to Read NOW Here’s the quick summary: 1. Anxiety going back-to-school is normal.   Why be surprised?  Embrace it; accept it as normal; lean into it. 2. Don’t make anxiety personal.   There’s no shame in suffering.  […]

Confusing Doubt and Fear With God Speaking When Susan* began therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), she had a lot of questions pertaining to her faith.  In fact, she often thought she was dealing regularly with inherent spiritual problems, when, in reality, much of her concerns were just problems that […]