Vows and oaths of an OCD sufferer

I am an OCD sufferer. In order to overcome my obsessive urge to say a certain text, I take an vow that I won’t say it; but then I fail to keep the vow. I take vow that I won’t put on a shirt, without specifying which shirt exactly, but I know exactly which shirt I have to put on so I won’t have anxieties. Is this a valid vow, or is it annulled? I heard on the radio that there is such thing as an annulment of vows before Yom Kippur, and the rabbi said that it works. Does that mean that now I don’t have to worry about not keeping my vows?

It is with great pain that I read about the difficult condition that you have to deal with. I read a chapter of Psalms that Hashem send you full and speedy recovery. May both your body and your soul be healed. I can read between the lines, how mightily you are trying to fight this difficult condition that you are in, and how much you crave a change for the better. According to the Jewish law, you condition makes it impossible for you to properly keep the Torah commandments. Your main and central mitzvah is to seek treatment, and to  cooperate with the treatment that you receive. I can see that you have a lot of willpower, and I’m sure you will succeed.

You are absolutely obligated to treat your condition, and it’s forbidden to mix it with the questions of halacha. What you have to do is to find professional treatment and to see it through.

As far as the annulment of vows is concerned, you have to speak personally with a qualified rabbi. He’ll be able to tell you if your vows are valid in the first place, and if they are, how to annul them. I cannot give a general answer to such a question, especially not over email. But remember one point: don’t mix religion and service of G-d with your personal condition.

I reiterate again: you have great willpower. With G-d’s help, very soon you’ll be after all this.

I’m sure of your success.

Shulchan Oruch, section Yore Dea, chapters 232-233