Scrupulosity : Religious OCD and Spiritual Perfectionism

Scrupulosity is regarded as a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which focuses on religious obsessions and compulsions. This Element expands our understanding of the phenomenology of scrupulosity, including ways it is experienced differently by people within different religious traditions.

Scrupulosity is sometimes regarded as a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which focuses especially on religious obsessions and compulsions, or more generally as an excessive form of religious or spiritual perfectionism. In this Element, drawing on my own experiences and those of people within different religious traditions, I will expand our understanding of the phenomenology of scrupulosity, including ways it is experienced differently by people within different religious traditions. Next, I will consider why there is scrupulosity, exploring psychological and theological perspectives. Finally, I will then turn to the question of whether scrupulosity can be spiritually innocent; i.e. that, in spite of scrupulosity being (I argue) a spiritual disability, a person might gain spiritual benefits as a result of having scrupulosity that they would probably not otherwise gain. Finally, I will consider the implications of my argument for clinical and pastoral contexts, and for the philosophy of religion.