there is spiritual OCD among Catholics as well. In fact when I saw the title of this article, I thought that was what it would be about. It's called scrupulosity, and I've known several folks who suffer or have suffered from it. Many years ago, I started to become borderline scrupulous myself, mainly due to the influence of a close friend who was severely scrupulous and the fact that I have some other OCD tendencies in other areas of my life.
It seems to manifest itself in two ways:
In one, the person suffering from it has an abnormally sensitive conscience and has the need to go to Confession nearly everyday. Some people will deliberately hop from parish to parish, priest to priest, throughout the week so to keep their constant Confession a secret.
The second, and probably more serious, way scrupulosity manifests itself is that when the person receives the sacrament of Confession, he or she does not feel forgiven afterwards. They live in doubt and agony over whether they have "really" been forgiven of their sins. It's very sad.
In my experience, these folks have a strong desire to love and serve God, and to be as holy as possible. They see their scrupulosity as part of a disciplined spiritual life, not as a perversion of true Christian discipline. Ironically, their problem ultimately stifles their spiritual lives. Some become so full of despair that they give up on God entirely.
There's a very strong connection between scrupulosity and OCD - in fact, the former is probably a manifestation of the latter. Once scrupulous people recognize their problem, often it is very helpful for them to get psychiatric and/or psychological help in addition to spiritual guidance.
here is spiritual OCD among Catholics as well. In fact when I saw the title of this article, I thought that was what it would be about. It's called scrupulosity, and I've known several folks who suffer or have suffered from it. Many years ago, I started to become borderline scrupulous myself, mainly due to the influence of a close friend who was severely scrupulous
You seem to be using "scrupulous" as a technical term, a usage unfamiliar to this protestant Christian. Care to clarify what it means in a C. of R. context?