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Anonymous wrote:

Hi, guys —

I suffer from a mental disease, including anxiety, and it leads me to a very peculiar situation.

Whenever I go to Confession, I become (when leaving the Confessional) very stressed. I have physical [stress/anxiety], including physical pain. I may want to seek some way to relieve all the pain, including masturbation.

I have no idea what I exactly have at this point. I have never talked about this particular issue(post-Confession anxiety) with my psychiatrist so it leads me to fear any Confession, knowing it leads me to physical pain. I ended up thinking:

  • Why should I go to Confession since it will hurt me?

I would like a positive answer, knowing I am not the only one who has such a reaction.

Thanks,

Anonymous

  { How do I handle having stress, anxiety, and even physical pain after leaving the Confessional? }

Fr. Jonathan replied:

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for the question.

This is clearly a psychological problem. You said specifically that you have never talked about this with your psychiatrist.

I would strongly recommend that you speak with a psychiatrist with an understanding of Catholicism.

Fr. Jonathan

Anonymous replied:

OK, Thanks!

That sounds good to me!

Anonymous
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