Further discussion of scruples and OCD

On Aimee's blog she has typed in a wonderful excerpt that defines scruples, and distinguishes it from a tender conscience, very nicely.


I responded to a reader who wrote: "According to MMajor Fan and others, scruples are equivalent to OCD, differing primarily in their object (the object being God, in the scrupulous person's case)."

To gently correct, that's not true. That is why I write "scruples and OCD" not scruples = OCD with differing directions. Scruples is as Aimee found to be defined, directed toward God. OCD is a mental condition that stems from a desperate sense of needing to do something in order to survive. Literally, the person with OCD feels that their physical survival is at risk if they do not perform the activities dictated by the OCD defect. It can get tangled up in scruples if the OCD derives from thinking one is receiving messages from a universal spirit's compulsion for survival. But I do not consider them the same nor tend to them the same way (as I gave in my example of treating a classic "checking the stove" OCD).

Aimee asks if it is a pervasive thing among Catholics. That's a good question and I don't have any statistics about that. Anecdotally I can comment that for those of the faith who are interested in Evangelizing, be aware that secular or New Age forms of scruples, and/or the separate problem of OCD are blockages to Evangelizing. Some are naturally developed and some are Satan's way of hampering the body of the church. So anecdotally, I don't think scruples is a huge problem among Catholics (Catholics have bigger problems in their basic faith, *sigh*), but scruples and related disorders such as OCD are a very real and prevalent obstacle in our mission of conversion. I find that I have to get people "unstuck" from the mire of scruples and/or OCD before the Lord can even get their true attention.

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Some additional thoughts to amplify what I'm saying above. When I interned as a psychiatric counselor, I was very moved by the pervasive feeling of struggling to survive that many with OCD and similar compulsions experience. They are so wound up with the OCD rituals and the resultant warped view of some sort of universal (or worse, individualized) punishment and reward system in the universe that they would be incapable of receiving comfort and direction from the Lord even if it were presented on a golden platter (or a how to DVD!) It's a painful condition and few things anger me more than people who through cult beliefs prey upon people who have a tendency toward OCD. While Jesus Christ cures all, I am a hearty believer that OCD must be treated somewhat medically through behavior modification and the building of a personal security system initially, because OCD and related disorders are barriers to true religious experience and expression, and the feeling of being a liberated fully alive person. There is a "short cut" if the person is suffering from a New Age or secular scruples, and can be shown the truth that the scriptures do not endorse or require any of the scrupulous or OCD behaviors that they are conducting. By turning to Jesus Christ and believing that there is no hidden message or compulsive survival requirements, sometimes people experience immediate relief (it is the breakthrough intervention.) For some people, however, a two step approach is needed, that is, to treat the OCD first, removing the barrier between the person and a liberated life, and then they can clearly see and hear the Lord.