Understanding Moral Scrupulosity OCD
Some OCD themes are more well known than others, like contamination themed OCD. Moral Scrupulosity is one theme that often gets overlooked. Moral Scrupulosity OCD is also referred to as Religious OCD or Religious Scrupulosity. It revolves around the fear of being a bad, immoral person. Sometimes this is mixed in with a fear of hell or fear of causing harm to others. A person dealing with Moral Scrupulosity OCD believes in a set of values (religious, spiritual, or moral) and fears acting inconsistently with this set of values.
OCD loves to target the things we love and care about the most, and people with Scrupulosity often care very deeply about their values. OCD makes them question and doubt whether or not they are actually living in alignment with their values. For example, a Catholic with Scrupulosity OCD might experience intrusive thoughts such as, “what if you sinned but didn’t know it” “you confessed wrong” or “you didn’t mean it when you prayed.”
Some OCD compulsions can be observed by other people, while some are internal. Observable compulsions for Scrupulosity might look like:
Engaging in a religious ritual much more often than others
Reading a religious or spiritual text over and over
Praying longer than others of your faith
Volunteering significantly more than other people
Being overly strict and rigid with spiritual practices
Non-observable, internal compulsions for scrupulosity might look like:
Praying over and over until it feels right
Reviewing actions of the day to identify “sin” or “harm”
Thinking specific thoughts to “cleanse” your mind after “bad” thoughts
Reassuring yourself you are a good person
Endlessly debating with yourself about whether or not you are a good person
Confessing sins or praying for forgiveness much more often than others of your faith
Scrupulosity occurs in all the major religions such as Judaism, Hinduism and Evangelical Christianity. Scrupulosity OCD often looks like going to the extreme for one’s religious belief. A person with OCD will find themselves going above and beyond, repeating rituals over and over, and yet it never feels like enough. The specific practices and compulsions differ depending on one’s beliefs, but the underlying fears of being a bad person, doubting one’s faith and fearing punishment are similar. Signs of scrupulosity can even be seen in predominant religious figures such as Martin Luther. (Check out D.L. Mayfield’s excellent article on this).
“When a person is not a part of one of the major world religions, Morality OCD is overlooked and under-diagnosed.”
There are two “flavors” of Moral Scrupulosity that I think get missed: “spiritual but not religious” practices and environmentalism. Many people identify as spiritual while not subscribing to a formal religion. Unfortunately your spiritual beliefs don’t need to be part of a religion for Morality OCD to latch on to it. Scrupulosity can also make people rigid, perfectionist and fearful around spiritual beliefs and practices such as manifestation, seeking to be a loving person and wanting to be a positive person. The majority of people who believe in manifestation might start their day by intentionally visualizing their goals and focusing on positive thoughts throughout the day. Morality OCD within manifestation might look like excessive time spent on affirmations, excessive worry about “cleansing” the mind, writing out affirmations repeatedly in a rigid, perfectionist way, fear of having a negative thought, or excessive guilt over causing an accident that had nothing to do with them. When most people experience a random intrusive thought such as, “I hope my mom doesn’t get sick,” they are aware that it’s a random thought, brush it off and redirect their attention. Someone with OCD would feel very anxious about having had that thought, and would do something to neutralize or undo it. For example, repeating “my mom will be healthy” five times, checking that their mom is feeling healthy, or visualizing their mom being healthy repeatedly throughout the day.
Another overlooked expression of Morality OCD is Scrupulosity about environmentalism. This is not a religion in the formal sense of the word, but people adhere to it as a worldview and believe that following or not following certain practices makes one a morally good or bad person. There is a guiding belief system around diet, transportation, and purchases. Someone with Morality OCD would approach environmentalism with perfectionism around their practices and would be significantly more strict than others who also try to make environmentally-friendly decisions. Someone might strictly adhere to zero waste, organic ingredients, and living clean. For example being overly rigid around their zero waste lifestyle to the point where they turn down social invitations to eat at a restaurant with friends to avoid producing waste. A person might have a rigid protocol for recycling and composting, without exceptions for understandable life circumstances like illness. With Morality OCD about climate, there is no fear of going to hell/eternal punishment, but there might be a fear of hastening climate disaster or making things worse for future generations.
Underlying all these Morality OCD “flavors” is the fear of being a terrible person and living at odds with one’s most deeply held values. If you’re dealing with OCD, you might find yourself going above and beyond other people. Some of your actions might feel driven by fear and out of your control. You might find yourself thinking and doing a lot more than other people who share your beliefs.
If you think you might have OCD, reach out for an assessment.
The goal of treatment for Religious or Morality OCD is not to convince you to abandon your beliefs. It’s simply to help you return to regular practice of your values, without going above and beyond out of fear. You can read more about treatment for OCD here.
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