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Is Scrupulosity Self-Inflicted and Sinful, or Is It an Illness?

Question:

Is scrupulosity self-inflicted and sinful, or is it an illness that causes suffering that is not one’s fault but rather a trial?

Answer:

I know of no one who would freely choose the ongoing agony of scrupulosity. While one can spend time discussing its theological flaws, for some people it is not an matter of ideology—it is a mental trap with which one contends on a regular basis.

Certainly, most people obsess on certain unimportant matters to some degree without such behavior becoming a major part of their life.

But for those whom most would consider to be scrupulous, such obsessive behavior is compulsive and dominates many or most of their waking hours. I deal with many such people. When I recognize their fear and inability to cope, I suggest that they contact a therapist. Usually, they will continue to write me regularly to “make sure” that their behavior is not mortally sinful.

Such obsessive-compulsive behavior is fed by irrational fear. What has surprised me is that they will accept my pronouncement on the morality of their actions simply because of their faith in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. I then encourage them with the fact that their faith seems stronger than their psychological affliction.

While there is no doubt that the pain of such behavior is a cross they have to bear for the present, it is most important that they continue to strive to be healed of the illness.

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