Strong Religious Beliefs vs. OCD?
Strong religious beliefs are a healthy part of the lives of many. Spirituality and adherence to the rituals of a certain religion can bring peace and clarity in an often chaotic world. However, for those with OCD, it can sometimes be tricky to distinguish the discrepancy between their belief system and some pathological presentations of religious scrupulosity.
Fortunately, there are many signs for when OCD has taken a good thing too far, and ways to decouple your religious beliefs with the obsessions and compulsions. One sign that you are being controlled not by your healthy religious beliefs but by your scrupulosity (the OCD version of religion) is that you spend excessive time or energy on your religious practices. While “excessive” can be a subjective term, many find their religious routines snowballing over time and taking up a larger and larger portion of their lives. Something to remember about OCD is that it rarely stays at a manageable level and when left untreated, tends to escalate.
Another sign of scrupulosity is that it can actually interfere with healthy religious expression. Scrupulosity obsessive beliefs can cause the compulsion of avoidance. For example, a person believes that they are such a disappointment to God that they stop attending religious services.
Those with scrupulosity tend to focus their religious attention not on the tenets of their spirituality, such as a moral treatment of others, but rather on certain rote tasks that might form part of their religion, like repeating a prayer a certain number of times until it is “just right.” With scrupulosity, conversations with God need to be “perfect” and untainted, rather than raw and real.
In short, scrupulosity is about hypervigilance and perfection. Religions, in contrast, usually champion effort, continual betterment, and connection – but most of all, religions hold space for the flawed reality of the human condition.
If you are would like support for your OCD, please contact us at Kairos Wellness Collective.
