What to Read
A form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) involving religious or moral obsessions. Scrupulous individuals are overly concerned that something they thought or did might be a sin or other violation of religious or moral doctrine.
What Are the Symptoms of Scrupulosity?
Common obsessions seen in scrupulosity include excessive concerns about:
- Blasphemy
- Having committed a sin
- Behaving morally
- Purity
- Going to hell
- Death
- A loss of impulse control
Besides excessive worry about religious and moral issues, scrupulosity sufferers engage in mental or behavioral compulsions. Behavioral compulsions could include:
- Excessive trips to confession
- Repeatedly seeking reassurance from religious leaders and loved ones
- Repeated cleansing and purifying rituals
- Acts of self-sacrifice
- Avoiding situations (for example, religious services) in which they believe a religious or moral error would be especially likely or cause something bad to happen
Mental compulsions could include:
- Excessive praying (sometimes with an emphasis on the prayer needing to be perfect)
- Repeatedly imagining sacred images or phrases
- Repeating passages from sacred scriptures in one’s head
- Making pacts with God
How Can Scrupulosity Be Distinguished From Normal Religious Practice?
Unlike normal religious practice, scrupulous behavior usually exceeds or disregards religious law and may focus excessively on one trivial area of religious practice while other, more important areas may be completely ignored. The behavior of scrupulous individuals is typically inconsistent with that of the rest of the faith community.
Scrupulosity responds to the same treatments as those used with other forms of OCD. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), featuring a procedure called exposure and response prevention” (ERP) is the primary psychological treatment for all subtypes of OCD, including scrupulosity. A certain kind of medicine called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the primary drug treatment for OCD. Treatment for scrupulosity may also include consultation with leaders of the patient’s faith tradition. The goal of treatment is to disentangle OCD from the religious and moral values of the sufferer so that they can live a life consistent with their beliefs and values, unadulterated by OCD.
Adapted from C. Alec Pollard.
What to Watch
Please watch the videos below relating scrupulosity OCD.
[VIDEO]
What to Do
Create your ERP hierarchy following the example and instructions below.
- [Scrupulosity OCD Hierarchy example]
- [ERP Instructions]
What to Measure