Religious OCD, Scrupulosity, and Existential OCD
When OCD presents as questions about faith, morals, meaning, or the nature of reality
Religious OCD & Scrupulosity
If you know anything at all about OCD, you know that it goes after the very things that we cherish and value the most. Few things are more personal and central to a person’s well being than their spirituality. Religious OCD occurs when individuals experience doubts or fears related to their religion. This can take many forms, including:
having unwanted blasphemous thoughts
having unwanted sexual thoughts during church or when praying
worrying obsessively about whether or not one has sinned, or whether or not one has properly atoned
obsessing about the possibility that one has prayed “incorrectly” and will therefore suffer some harm (or cause others to suffer harm).
Compulsions in Religious OCD and Scrupulosity can vary depending on the exact nature of the individuals obsessions. More common examples include:
Mental review of one’s actions to check for possible slights against God
Fixating on properly carrying out specific religious laws or commands, such as keeping kosher or obeying the Sabbath, to the point that it becomes disruptive to the person’s daily functioning.
Seeking reassurance from church leaders
Compulsively researching (poring over theological texts, re-reading Biblical passages over and over again)
Repeatedly praying
Mentally undoing or negating unwanted blasphemous thoughts by replacing them with “good” thoughts
Is scrupulosity always about religion?
No! The word “scruple” can refer to any moral or ethical principle one holds that guides their behaviors. Examples of non-religious scruples might be beliefs about the importance of recycling, a personal commitment to not be wasteful, a strong dislike of littering, or a prioritization on minimizing one’s carbon footprint. In each of these examples, the mere existence of the scruple does NOT indicate that the person has OCD. Where OCD enters the picture is in how the person applies these principles and whether or not a cycle of anxiety and compulsive behavior has taken hold.
Existential OCD
If you’ve seen the 1999 sci-fi/action film The Matrix, you probably remember the scene in which Morpheus (played by Laurence Fishburne) reveals to Neo (Keanu Reeves) that reality as he knows it is an illusion. What Neo perceives as his normal day to day life is actually a computer simulation. In the actual real world, humanity has been enslaved by robots who use human beings as energy sources while keeping their brains occupied by connecting them to a computer simulation (the titular “Matrix”).
Though the film was groundbreaking, both in terms of its ideas and its famed visual effects, it is borne out of the kinds of existential questions that human beings have pondered for thousands of years: What is reality? How did we get here? What is the purpose of life? How can we distinguish truth from illusion?
While many find enjoyment and intellectual stimulation in exploring these questions, others may find them troubling and anxiety-inducing. For a smaller subset of these folks, they might obsess over these ideas to the point that they are consumed by them, and experience extreme distress at their inability to resolve these questions or move on from them. This is what is often termed Existential OCD.
In Existential OCD, obsessions often take the form of unanswerable/unknowable questions about one’s purpose in life, the nature of reality, or our place in the universe. Here are some common examples of obsessions in Existential OCD:
Obsessively ruminating on questions like "What if I am living in a computer simulation?" or "How do I know I actually exist and am not in a dream?"
Feeling stuck thinking about what happens after death
Having an overwhelming fear of death and dying, to the point of avoiding any and all reminders of it
Sufferers of Existential OCD might try to resolve their anxiety by engaging in compulsions such as:
Repeatedly researching possible answers to existential questions
Excessively reading (and re-reading) philosophical, scientific, or theological texts (or watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, etc)
Mental compulsions such as reviewing events or memories to “prove” that your existence is real or that reality is not an illusion
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I offer specialized treatment for Religious OCD/Scrupulosity, Existential OCD, and other Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) presentations both in-person in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as well as online throughout Louisiana. Reach out now to schedule a free consultation.