Are Religious Compulsions Religious or Compulsive: A Phenomenological Study

Religious compulsions in four patients are presented to show the phenomenological similarities and differences between religious and compulsive rituals. The role of religious ritual observance in predisposing to obsessive-compulsive neurosis is discussed and minor modifications in the usual course of behavioral treatment are suggested. The proportion of religious compulsions among obsessive-compulsive neurotics is compared with two other populations studied.