M: I agree. But I recall so many "lives of the saints" stories in which a given saint was deemed "Catholic holy" BECAUSE of that zealous obsession with doing things "just right"--by the day of the week, by the numbers, by the location, by repetition, by lexicon, by text, by the ritual, by extreme focus on denial, by the isolation from_____(fill in the many blanks), by compulsive obedience, and more. 

My teachers in Catholic school were 180-degrees from what psychologists and health professionals would and would not deem "self abuse." "It hurts so good" was a hallmark of holiness. "It feels so good" was a hallmark of sin. 

At reunions, so many recall with laughter and with tears the torments of scrupulosity in their Catholic youth--and some, like DonInKansas, openly lament the residual impacts that lasted for years...and beyond.