When Does Faith Become Magical Thinking in Scrupulosity OCD?

It’s no secret that individuals who have Scrupulosity Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) tend to have a relationship with faith that may appear distorted to others. For instance, they may struggle to incorporate self compassion, be more strict with standards or frequently become distressed about whether their faith is strong enough.

However, one aspect of the relationship those with Scrupulosity OCD have with faith that has not been widely discussed is when sufferers cross the line into the realm of magical thinking, which is when an individual comes to believe that they, their thoughts and desires can directly impact the world. 

To be more specific, magical thinking can look like someone being concerned that if they forget to pray for an individual by name, something bad could happen to them – when in all actuality, their prayer is not the sole determinant of whether that person is safe. 

It can be easy for those who live with Scrupulosity OCD to twist statements they may hear at church or read in the scriptures into ones that resemble magical thinking. And to make matters worse, these statements are often the primary drivers of OCD thought loops and the OCD cycle.

Examples of magical thinking in Scrupulosity OCD

Here are three common occurrences of when faith crosses over into magical thinking, using examples from the church I grew up in, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS):

1. If you pay your tithing, you’ll always be taken care of.

Within the LDS faith, church members are required to donate 10% of their income to the church to be worthy to enter the temple (a building where members make covenants with God that are essential to their salvation). 

When LDS church members talk about the commandment to pay tithing, they often reference how much they will be blessed for their obedience. I remember hearing stories about families who had to choose between buying groceries or paying their tithing, and when they chose to pay their tithing, somebody randomly paid for the food they needed. Ultimately, members are taught that if they accurately make the donation, there won’t be enough room to receive the blessings they will receive for doing so. 

As someone with Scrupulosity OCD, tithing quickly became a “be obedient or else” concept. I was afraid that if I did not pay my tithing, then I would somehow not have enough money to pay my rent. It became compulsory in the sense that I had to pay my tithing exactly correctly and exactly on time in order to prevent bad things from happening in my life. 

This is an example of magical thinking because I drew a direct line from whether or not I paid my tithing to whether or not I would have enough money to survive – when this was simply not reality. Yes, it was true that I could maybe receive blessings from God for being obedient, but my ability to pay my bills depended on whether or not I went to work and how I managed my money, not whether I paid my tithing.

2. If you wear your garments, you will always be protected.

When members of the LDS church go to the temple for the first time, they receive undergarments that have special symbols on them. They are instructed to wear the garments throughout the entire day and night (unless swimming, exercising, etc.) as a reminder of the promises they made to God in the temple.

Church members are expected to take this instruction very seriously, and are often told that if they are obedient in wearing their garments, they will be protected from many types of harm. Members share stories about dangerous situations that they believe they made it out safely from solely because they had been wearing their garments. 

In response to this commandment and the surrounding discourse, my Scrupulosity OCD twisted these statements into magical thinking by causing me to be fearful that if I was not wearing my garments when I was supposed to be, something bad would happen to me. I would be afraid I would get into a car accident, be sexually assaulted, etc. – and that was the primary reason for my obedience to the commandment to wear my garments. 

This is another example of how Scrupulosity OCD can take a principle of faith, such as garment wearing, and turn it into a cycle of fear and magical thinking.

3. If you’re not sufficiently humble, God will have to teach you a lesson.

Magical thinking doesn’t always have to develop as a result of a commandment. In fact, this example stems from one of the most distressing intrusive thoughts and compulsions I experienced when I was in the thick of struggling with Scrupulosity OCD.

Within the LDS church, it is very important for members to prioritize implementing the attributes of Jesus Christ into their life. Among others, these attributes include faith, diligence, obedience, service and, most importantly in this context, humility. 

While I always took this admonition seriously, when I was 15 and received my patriarchal blessing (a special prayer from a man in the church who has authority to provide direction, warnings and even prophecy regarding an individual’s life), I was advised to take special care to try to become like Jesus Christ. 

In my study of the attributes of Christ, I became especially concerned with whether or not I was humble enough or whether I was too prideful. This stems from many different experiences, but mostly from my desperation to have God’s help in my life to overcome the trials I faced while I was growing up. 

While I was studying God’s word and attending church, I often heard individuals tell stories about instances where they prayed for God to help them be more humble and then experienced an extremely difficult challenge in their life.  This is where my Scrupulosity came in and twisted my desire to become more like Jesus Christ into an OCD cycle of fear – I was so afraid that my pride would make my life even more difficult than it already was, that I completed a multitude of different compulsions, such as confession, repentance and ruminating, to “prove” that I was humble enough. 

This is magical thinking because I thought that me and my thoughts, desires and actions directly affected whether or not I would have trials in my life. That is not faith – it’s OCD.

Magical thinking and Scrupulosity

In short, faith crosses over into magical thinking when it goes from “God will bless me for being obedient” to “If I don’t ____, then something bad will happen.” In fact, trying to prevent bad things from happening is the core of almost all OCD intrusive thoughts/OCD cycles. 

It’s important for individuals with Scrupulosity OCD to be aware of instances in which their religious actions are based more on fear than faith – because if that’s the case, it’s likely that OCD is in the driver’s seat.

For more information on avoiding fear-based obedience, check out this blog post.