Religious scrupulosity is a phenomenon at the intersection of religiosity and mental health. One of the anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), is characterised by an obsessive preoccupation with topics such as cleanliness or contamination, danger, symmetry, fear of experiencing aggression or behaving in an aggressive manner. One of the most common themes of obsessive thoughts in OCD is religious content. Depending on the cultural circle, they occur in up to 93% of people suffering from this disorder. The obsessive thoughts are most often born out of the usual doubts that most people experience. Have I closed the door? Was the food fresh? Weren’t my thoughts sinful? People suffering from OCD experience over-preoccupation with such doubts and assume that the mere thought of behaving in a certain way is tantamount to actual behaviour. The last feature in particular shows that religion may pose a risk for some people to develop a strong preoccupation or even obsession. In common perception, sins of thought are a moral violation. Some thoughts, however, are automatic, that is, independent of our will. The theological criterion of the sinfulness of an act – especially when it comes to a serious sin – is an aware decision to behave immorally.
Previous studies have shown that serious religious scrupulosity can be considered one of the forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Religious scruples, however, vary in severity and are often difficult to distinguish from the religious doubts that every believer has. It is therefore not easy to judge the severity of scruples resulting from abnormal psychological processes such as obsessions.
As part of his scientific activity, Marcin Moroń, PhD from the Institute of Psychology, and Magdalena Biolik-Moroń, MA, and Rev. Krzysztof Matuszewski, PhD from the Institute of Theology conducted a joint scientific study in which the place of religious struggles was analysed on the background of religious tensions, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and a sensitive attitude towards oneself. The study included 292 believers without a psychiatric diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Religious struggles have been shown to be similar (but not identical) to religious tensions. It was also shown that the stronger the struggles, the higher the obsessiveness and other symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. On the other hand, it has been shown that scrupulosity is accompanied by manifestations of insensitivity towards oneself, e.g. the lack of the ability to be healthy compassionate towards oneself. The conducted analysis showed that religious scruples are an intermediate symptom between “typical” religious tensions (eg about one’s morality or the truthfulness of divine persons) and obsessions. These results show that experiencing religious struggles posses an increased risk of developing obsessiveness.
According to the research results, for clinical and spiritual practice it is important to help to properly understand the truths of faith and the naturalness of experiencing religious doubts, as well as to develop the ability to notice the moment when doubts turn into obsessions. Working on religious scruples, therefore, requires strengthening the ability to avoid equating thoughts with behaviours. Thinking about immoral behaviour, especially automatic behaviour, does not mean behaving immorally, and the ability to separate thoughts from behaviour is a skill that can be developed on one’s own. Secondly, it is important to build the ability to distinguish between thoughts that require our attention and those that are only the background of everyday experience. Obsessive thoughts result from paying too much attention to less important content. These conclusions show that religious experience takes place on the border of the world of faith and spirituality as well as the functioning of the psyche and the ability to control one’s thought processes. This emphasises the role of the cooperation of clergy and spiritual directors with psychologists in working with people experiencing difficulties of religious content.
The article was published in the international magazine Religions https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/10/879
