Seymour Hoffman
This Reader contains articles about scrupulosity, a form of obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD) that involves religious or moral obsessions. Scrupulous individuals are overly concerned that something they thought or did might be a sin or other violation of religious or moral doctrine. It is personally distressing, objectively dysfunctional, and often accompanied by significant impairment in social functioning.The articles were authored by religious and haredi mental health practitioners and rabbis and primarily relate to scrupulosity in religious and ultra-orthodox Jews. Included in the book are responsa (religious rulings) by respected rabbinic arbiters, case histories of successful and unsuccessful treatment outcomes, an excerpt from a diary of the personal reflections of a young woman who suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, description of an unconventional treatment of a haredi woman who feared coming in contact with people of limited intelligence and two comprehensive and informative English articles by experts in the treatment of scrupulosity.The editor of this book who worked as a supervising psychologist of psychology interns in a mental health facility under ultra-orthodox auspices for over a decade, was impressed by the amount of patients, men and women, who were treated in the outpatient clinic and the day and full time hospital wards who suffered from scrupulosity and of the difficulty in treating them. The editor believes that mental health professionals, OCD sufferers, rabbis and others will find interest and value in reading this book.Dr. Seymour Hoffman, supervising psychologist, Maynei Hayeshua Mental Health Center, published Interface Between Psychotherapy and Judaism: Issues, Case Studies and Halachic Deliberations (2017); Psychologist, “Acquire a Teacher for Yourself ”: Views and Responsa of Rabbis Regarding Psychological Treatment, (Hebrew), (2016); “Thinking Out of the Box”: Unconventional Psychotherapy (2015), Golden Sky Book.
