Why is scrupulosity a bad thing?

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7_Sorrows said:
Yes, you shouldn’t be so sensitive.
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Another thing that isn’t exactly a good idea to say to a person with a mental illness. Just saying.
7_Sorrows said:
I don’t have OCD, but suffer from other afflictions like severe anxiety and depression.
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I’m not trying to start an argument here. This thread makes me a little uneasy in that someone is implying that scrupulously is right and good and people who experience it are more reasonable than those who don’t. Then your comment, comparing OCD to hand washing during a pandemic—I just felt I needed to jump in and point out that OCD is a serious thing, as is scrupulously. Someone reading this thread—who has scrupulously or OCD—may be troubled by such statements. Just trying to validate people who experience this pain.
 
@Psalm30

Who. is implying that scrupulosity is right and good and people who have it are
more reasonable than people who don’t?

From what I have learned here since joining CAF, scrupulosity is not a good thing to have.
 
Psalm30 said:
OCD/Scrupulosity sufferer here. I usually don’t take offense to comments like this, but I do feel the need to say something in response to what you’ve posted here.
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As an OCD sufferer myself I agree that the “I am a little OCD because I like my desk set up like this” or I am a little OCD about how X or Y is done is a profound misunderstanding of OCD.

By far most of OCD is a feeling of dread inside and thoughts that constantly intrude, disrupting your life and piece of mind. When it is bad, it is crippling. People don’t see the “O” part of OCD, they see the “C” and sometimes the “C” has no logical relation to the “O” which is driving it.
 
EasternCelt said:
I’m trying to produce sorrow, but it seems futile.
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It’s pretty much impossible to manufacture emotional feelings. One can be sorrowful without “feeling” anything much at all. Think of the intent, that’s what matters. 🙂
 
Don’t expect perfection from yourself or anyone else. We aren’t perfect. Do the best you can with the best intentions, and you won’t fall into the prison of scrupulosity.

I just wish I could learn to take my own advice. Being detail oriented, I sometimes am much harder on myself than others are on me.

It takes some insight and practice to overcome anxiety over every little mis-step. Putting things into accurate perspective helps.

I know this is vague, but it’s the best I can do. Hope it helps, at least a little.
 
No, it’s not isolated to Catholicism; but is more common in it.

If you plotted all the various Christian denominations on a continuum - with Catholicism/Orthodoxy on one end and, say, Unitarianism on the other - you would find scrupulosity more prevalent on the Catholic end.

Scrupulosity can exist in most religions, as most religions have subsections that are more prone to legalistic fascination with rules or sacred writing or opinions of religious leaders. Jewish practice of pilpul, or memorizing the Qu’ran in its entirety, are examples of other types of zealous persons in world religions that may be prone to scrupulosity.

In Judaism, Orthodox would be more prone than Reform, for example.

Branches of Protestantism from Puritan sources, as well as Shakers, Quakers, and such would be more likely as well.

So, it can be present in most religions; but more likely in those we have discussed.

A sufferer of it may be drawn to Catholicism from other Christian communities, particularly if their denomination does not have sacramental features.

May God the Holy Spirit rain peace and calmness down upon all those who suffer this painful disease,
Deacon Christopher
 
Psalm30 said:
People throw the term OCD around lightly. “I’m OCD because I like my desk a certain way.” “I’m so OCD because I dust the house every day!” “My toddler is OCD because he has to read eight bedtime stories in the same order every night or he won’t go to sleep!”
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There is such a thing as desiring neatness, cleanliness, and orderliness in life, and somewhere along the line, that has gotten a bad name in modern times. If I am understanding the military lifestyle correctly — and unfortunately, I have never served — being neat, clean, orderly, precise, and disciplined are just a way of life. If you keep your person, your attire, your home, and so on, neat and orderly, everything else in life will follow suit.

In my present circumstances, raising and homeschooling a son, and caring for disabled elderly parents, I am not always as able to keep my life and surroundings as orderly as I would like. However, when I was a bachelor, everything in my home was in its place. It makes life much simpler — you never have to go looking for things, if everything is returned to the same place every time. I never lose my car keys or my wallet because, to this day, I am a fascist about putting them in one place and only one place each and every time. (The keys go on a hook on the foyer shelving, and the wallet goes into an open varnished cigar box near the keys.)

Again, it makes life simpler, and more efficient and fulfilling on top of that. You accomplish more. You get more done. I don’t understand how being particular about one’s own life ever got to be stigmatized as “a little OCD”.
 
@Diaconia

If I may, I just want to weigh in and share my own experience with scrupulosity .

I don’t know very much about what Protestant churches teach about sin, but the Catholic Church—or at least some members of the Catholic Church—seem to have a view of sin that encompasses a lot of things.

Scrupulosity is defined as thinking every little thing is a sin. Right now, there’s a thread about a priest who said it’s a sin to enjoy your food. On another thread, a while ago, someone mentioned that sitting on the couch to relax was a sin. Another article by a priest stated that wearing leggings is a mortal sin. Kinda points to the notion that…every little thing is a sin.
 
Catholics have plenty of guilt without manufacturing fake guilt.

Neither enjoying food nor wearing leggings are sinful.

There’s an old saying about guilt - the Jews may have invented it . . . but the Catholics perfected it! 🙂

Rest easy, and spend your energy and mental power on threads that are worth your time.
Deacon Christopher
 
I think some of this has to do with how a person was raised. If he or she was criticized and put down over every little imperfection, then first, the message might be that he or she isn’t valued very much and second, that he or she isn’t ever going to be much good, and third, that can easily lead to scrupulosity.
 
JanR said:
I think some of this has to do with how a person was raised. If he or she was criticized and put down over every little imperfection, then first, the message might be that he or she isn’t valued very much and second, that he or she isn’t ever going to be much good, and third, that can easily lead to scrupulosity.
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You make a good point. I never really thought about it that way, but now I do recall my parents bringing God into their verbally abusive rants toward me when I was a child. They would tell me God was disappointed in me because of little things. My mother—who has OCD—sometimes said certain things were sins when they weren’t. Thank you for this insight.
 
Parents need to be very careful about that kind of thing. Reinforce enough times that the kid isn’t going to amount to anything, can’t do anything right, etc., etc., and even God is mad at him or her, and they can end up laying a needless guilt trip on that person that can last a lifetime.
 
CRV said:
Scrupulosity is not always a manifestation of OCD.
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Sort of.

There is OCD. That’s the worst.

Then there is obsessive compulsive tendencies.

Then there’s anxiety.

I’ve got anxiety, I know people with OCD. I can sometimes have obsessive compulsive tendencies.

I tend to be scrupulous. I can manage it usually.

People with OCD feel debilitated. It’s a cycle. You get a thought and then are convinced the thought is a sin and you try to control the thought. Intrusive thoughts are often a part of it.

I remember my first confession after years. On my way to communion I suddenly thought that my confession wasn’t complete, and that I missed something. Then I felt that maybe I received unworthily. It’s awful.
 
Anxiety is no picnic, either. I try to keep telling myself that, nine times out of ten, the issues I am anxious over are really nothing to worry about, and I’ll be all right. Somehow, I just can’t convince myself of it.
 
I lived with it for years, and still tend towards it.

I remember spending an hour trying to get through a Rosary, because I didn’t ‘say it right’. Or at 3:00 o’clock I had to say exactly the right prayers exactly the right ways or God would justly punish me. I finally was pushed into therapy after confessing not praying right and having to pray a certain amount of times.

Think about that. What I was doing wasn’t prayerful meditation. It was rank superstition.

It helped. I’m not sure why it bit so hard at that point in my life (teens through mid 20’s). But it did. I still feel the pull though.

Scrupulosity does NOT lead to Holiness. Scrupulosity leads to anger, dispair, and anguish. These are not things that the Lord wants for us.

If you have it, seek help. It’s okay. You aren’t to blame, and help is out there. And your faith life will improve when you understand God really means it when he says he loves you.
 
I remember thinking that if I didn’t DRIVE the right way God would be upset, because we are to ‘be perfect like him’. It left me with a constant sense of impending doom.

These thoughts make zero sense in the cold light of day. But when I was experiencing them they seemed very, very real. It took a fair amount of therapy to work it out.

I STILL get the occasional twinge (yesterday I had this feeling that if I didn’t leave a parking lot by a certain exit SOMETHING BAD would happen) but I have a bit of a mental toolkit that helps me. And I took the ‘wrong’ exit just because.
 
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