Is This Scrupulosity OCD… or Church Culture?

I recently had a viewer of my podcast reach out to me and say, “Where do we draw the line between Scrupulosity OCD and church culture? Your account has opened my eyes to harmful thought patterns, but I feel like these are taught to us as children.” I can definitely see how this is a common question – especially when it comes to high-demand religions. 

It’s important to address this concern for two reasons: first, because it points out aspects of religion that could be unhealthy, and second, because differentiating Scrupulosity Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is vital so that those individuals can receive proper treatment.

The Scrupulosity OCD cycle

My viewer has a point – it is true that it can be hard to identify what really is Scrupulosity OCD. To paint a clearer picture, here are some examples of when the lines of Scrupulosity OCD may be blurred with those of scrupulous individuals within high-demand religions:

1. Strict rules about how and when you pray, read the scriptures or attend church

2. Excess guilt and shame about sin and/or being good enough

3. Wondering if you’ve really been forgiven by God accompanied with excessive repentance

In order to accurately differentiate Scrupulosity OCD from church culture, we have to go back to the basics of the OCD cycle. To be diagnosed with OCD of any type, the individual must consistently and repeatedly go through the following steps:

• Intrusive thought

• Anxiety

• Compulsion

• Temporary reduction of anxiety

People who do not have OCD can experience this cycle – it’s just that you are only diagnosed when it is consistent and debilitating.

Scrupulosity OCD behaviors may be praised

Another way to help untangle diagnosed OCD from wider church culture is to take a look at individuals within religion who seem to interact with religion in a healthy way. Do you know anyone who doesn’t seem to become distressed by repentance? Who seems capable of expressing unconditional self-compassion? Who isn’t intensely caught up in rules and receives peace from their faith? 

Comparing your beliefs and behaviors with theirs can help reveal unhelpful thought patterns and reveal what improvements could be made within the wider church culture. This is especially important because certain compulsive behaviors can even be praised as faithful by members, which further exacerbates the confusion.

Church culture and earned worthiness

Ultimately, I think the difficulty of separating Scrupulosity OCD from the harmful thought patterns within church culture stems from the fact that guilt and shame is so normalized within certain religions. This is evident in several different instances, including:

• Chastity and sexual purity metaphors, such as referring to those who have had sex before marriage as chewed-up gum or crumpled-up paper

• Repentance rituals such as disciplinary counsels and the revocation of certain privileges, like temple attendance or the sacrament

• The perpetuating of the belief that we are nothing without God and are inherently part of a “fallen” species

• General and common talk about judgement day and the importance of daily repentance

Overall, each of these instances has one thing in common: a lack of inherent worthiness and the belief that we are not good enough exactly as we are, but that God can help us reach the level that we need to be at. And yes, many of these teachings co-exist with contradicting statements like “God loves you no matter what” – but which messages stick in the mind more powerfully?

The key is to find the balance between recognizing some of the problems that exist within high-demand religions while at the same time validating that that does not necessarily mean that everyone has Scrupulosity OCD.