The doubting disease: religious scrupulosity and obsessive-compulsive disorder in historical context

The Journal of Medical Humanities
Paul Cefalu

Abstract

Psychologists and cultural historians typically have argued that early modern theologians such as Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and Ignatius Loyola exhibited behavior that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) classifies as a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder termed "religious scrupulosity." This essay argues that, although early modern theologians do manifest scrupulosity, such religiosity was a culturally acceptable, even recommended component of spiritual progress, a necessary means of receiving an unmerited bestowal of God's grace. The larger aim of the essay is to point out some of the limitations of current DSM criteria when attempting retrospectively to diagnose historical figures with mental pathology.

Citations

Jun 16, 2011·Journal of Religion and Health·Allison L Allmon
Jun 15, 2010·Current Psychiatry Reports·David Greenberg, Jonathan D Huppert
May 30, 2014·Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic·Mary MartinelliThröstur Björgvinsson
Apr 26, 2015·Journal of Affective Disorders·Rania Awaad, Sara Ali
Feb 14, 2013·Behavior Modification·John P DehlinMichael P Twohig

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