Jump to content
Goodbye Jesus

Scrupulosity OCD


surferdude

Recommended Posts

Hey all. Happy Thursday! I have OCD. I've had it since childhood. One segment of my OCD is Scruplosity. Scrupulosity is where Religon mixes with OCD. OCD is an anxiety disorder. It thrives on uncertainty. All religon is uncertain because none of it can be proven. OCD will always go after what a person values and create doubt, uncertainty, questioning, worse case scenarios, and fear. It can be an endless cycle. The worst part is it can cause a person to avoid the things they value. I am in the early stages of Therapy. Exposer is an instrumental part of treatment. Anyone here have this challenge?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, surferdude said:

Hey all. Happy Thursday! I have OCD. I've had it since childhood. One segment of my OCD is Scruplosity. Scrupulosity is where Religon mixes with OCD. OCD is an anxiety disorder. It thrives on uncertainty. All religon is uncertain because none of it can be proven. OCD will always go after what a person values and create doubt, uncertainty, questioning, worse case scenarios, and fear. It can be an endless cycle. The worst part is it can cause a person to avoid the things they value. I am in the early stages of Therapy. Exposer is an instrumental part of treatment. Anyone here have this challenge?

 

I had to look that up:

 

Quote

Scrupulosity is characterized by pathological guilt about moral or religious issues. It is personally distressing, objectively dysfunctional, and often accompanied by significant impairment in social functioning .

 

I've never been diagnosed with anything like that, but I definitely have a guilt complex. If I'm enjoying something, I feel like I should be doing something else, or that there must be a reason I should feel guilty about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Lerk said:

 

I had to look that up:

 

 

I've never been diagnosed with anything like that, but I definitely have a guilt complex. If I'm enjoying something, I feel like I should be doing something else, or that there must be a reason I should feel guilty about it.

 

It's not something I would think that most people know about. My issue relates with a few things. I understand and feel your struggle. I know it can be overcame. For me it requires therapy and action!

 

How long have you been away from Christanity?

 

What do you think it will take for you to feel good about you value?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/12/2019 at 2:06 PM, surferdude said:

 

It's not something I would think that most people know about. My issue relates with a few things. I understand and feel your struggle. I know it can be overcame. For me it requires therapy and action!

 

How long have you been away from Christanity?

 

What do you think it will take for you to feel good about you value?

 

I've been a nonbeliever for about 7 1/2 years, since I was 52.

 

You know, intellectually I know it's silly. I don't know how much of it I was born with and how much is learned. My mother says I was always a "pleaser" so I'm sure part of it is just what I was born with. But having been in a denomination (Non-institutional Churches of Christ) where I was in church for Sunday morning Bible class, Sunday morning assembly, Sunday evening assembly, and Wednesday evening Bible class -- four events per week for most of my life -- the idea that a person mustn't be selfish. must always, always, always think of others first, and must always worry about whether a thing is right or wrong, must have had an effect as well. And I think being married has reinforced this to some extent. (And my wife has the same problem.)

 

Examples:

  1. I had a motorcycle for some time. I didn't ride on weekends --  I mostly just commuted on it. And for the first few years, it just made me totally happy to ride the thing, just feeling outside and alive rather than being "in a cage" (as motorcyclists refer to cars). But that joy was contaminated by feeling like I was doing something naughty!
  2. I sometimes feel guilty for going to work and leaving my wife home alone. The guilt is because I'd often really rather go to the office. I like my job most of the time! So -- guilty as charged for not preferring to stay home, even though I don't actually have a choice.
  3. Both today and when the kids were at home, if I would ever "disappear" from the living room to take care of something that took more than a few minutes, I would feel guilty. This was reinforced by the fact that someone would always come looking for me. This is the learned behavior I'm talking about which may be a result of being married.

Like I say, I know it's stupid. It's just a feeling that I've never been able to shake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super Moderator

Being a person-pleaser is perfectly okay, provided you remember you are also a person.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

My ex husband had scrupulosity immediately before he went into hospital with psychosis. He was excessively praying, crossing himself, looking for “signs” of satan, etc. Scary stuff to watch.

He is now a fundy christian and still thinks that mental illness can be fixed by prayer alone.

Good on you for seeking professional help with what has the potential to be a debilitating disorder. Best of luck.

 

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amusing thing is that a priest, actually a rare breed , with experience in handling ppl with trauma/ mental issues/ programming , told me I had issues with scrupulosity. And that I would benefit from adequate therapy. Idk if it was is something learned before or in my intense christianity practice period. It did not help too , either. Mainline official Christian Orthodoxy has in its core teachings the uncertanty of salvation up until personal judgement after death. Those woth low threshold to uncertai nty can be severly affected by this.

 

My hunch, on reading and going to some therapies is that a lot of mental issues are 1. Trauma related, even intrauterine trauma. Research hint. In utero movie. 2. Childhood upbringing related. 3. Some kind of biological disorder. Of course all three are interrelated as in trauma causes biological disorders, some neurological disorders like stuttering can be a cause of severe traumas in early childhood, upbringing can cause or facilitate the apparition of trauma, etc. Research hint .Besser van der Kolk, the body keeps the score.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.