Are people with mental disorders less culpable for their sins?

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Possibly yes. In order for a person to commit a sin:
  1. It must be sinful
  2. They must know it is wrong (sinful)
  3. And they must do it either by thought or deed.
Whether these conditions are satisfied is known only to the individual and to God, especially #2. We can know that an action was sinful, but we cannot judge their culpability.

Edit: The individual must also “want” to do it. Thus they are not culpable for a forced crime. It is also possible that in the case of addictions that a person may be more compelled to commit the sin even though they hate it. This may affect their culpability as well. Ultimately, God is the judge, and we shouldn’t assume that no sin was committed at all.
 
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In some cases of mental illness, yes, because it impacts their ability to consent. People with Down Syndrome (instead of being aborted) were once regarded as very holy because they could not sin.
 
I would think that culpability varies, depending on the nature of the disorder. An otherwise average adult with depression has a lot more responsibility for their actions than, say, someone with Down Syndrome.
 
SuperLuigi said:
In some cases of mental illness, yes, because it impacts their ability to consent. People with Down Syndrome (instead of being aborted) were once regarded as very holy because they could not sin.
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There is a huge range of degrees of disability among people with Downs’, and not every case would lead to such a degree of mental impairment as to excuse a sufferer from all culpability for sin.
 
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TheAmazingGrace said:
I would think that culpability varies, depending on the nature of the disorder. An otherwise average adult with depression has a lot more responsibility for their actions than, say, someone with Down Syndrome.
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Just so. It depends on the nature and degree of the mental disorder.
 
I forget things exist on a continuum. Some people are indeed severely depressed.
 
Hi, Margaret!

Wow… didn’t see this coming!

I actually thought that you were thinking on the term of people who are fighting mental illness not people who are embracing evil.

Have not visited the terms lately, but are these terms not defining individuals who pursuit these agendas?
nar: a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves: “narcissists who think the world revolves around them”
psy: a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior
soc: a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.
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The problem with these is that there’s no telling when the person may be displaying their behavior because of diminished capacity or when they are using this behavior as an excuse to fulfill their desires.

There are two examples that I think about; Tourette and drunk/addict. There were 20/20 type shows addressing the issue of Tourette, the only people that they seem to find were people that would shout profanity–it seemed that the brain was wired to course out the world; then there are the drunk and addicts, why is it that their diminished capacity never compels them to do good–everything that they are “pushed” to do is wicked behavior… as a child I never witnessed a drunk man hitting on ugly women… and I’ve never heard of drunkards/addicts helping the elderly or soup kitchens or donating their moneys to the Church… which brings me to Christ’s Word:
6:45 A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart. (St. Luke)
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So while it is true that mental illness can be seen as a means to diminish capacity, hence, diminishing the personal responsibility for sin, it is the Holy Spirit Who can actually cut to the truth of the matter.

Man, it has been proven, has ample ability to circumvent and construct false realities.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
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@jcrichton

People make excuses. But that a thing is used as an excuse doesn’t make it unreal.
A lazy man may say “Don’t expect me to do all the work today. I’m ill”, and it’s an excuse. He has the sniffles, nothing worse. But another man might say the same thing because he has pneumonia.

Blame the excuse-maker. Don’t blame the sick man.
 
Para 1735 of the Catechism discusses that psychological or social factors may reduce or nullify one’s culpability for grave sin. Konwlwdge (or ignorance) of something being sinful is listed as a separate factor.

Fr Mitch Pacwa described a psychological factor rather narrowly, akin to being legally incompetent to avoid an action, but I don’t think the CCC is being so narrow.

Card, Ratzinger wrote an essay on homosexual conduct and said individuals might not have know the evil of actions in the past, but once being informed, they would be culpable. So, his statement hinged not on the psych aspect but on the knowledge factor. But, as the Church considers homosexuals to be gravely disordered, it’s not clear that the psychological “factor” exempts them from culpability.

Others, including priests in confession, have stated that they cannot know the severity of a sin that an individual commits, in many cases.

1735 and other paragraphs don’t seem to be so technical, as much as they are describing the mercy of God, to judge with infinite wisdom.
 
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Certainly. Some have non-existent or poorly formed consciences, and in many cases, there seems to be little of a corrective or therapeutic nature that can be applied to their disorder. For a similar reason, suicide is not always a mortal sin. If one lacks the necessary mental capacity or state to apprehend the grave nature of the act, then one is culpable, but not in the full sense.
 
spiderweb said:
Possibly yes. In order for a person to commit a sin:
  1. It must be sinful
  2. They must know it is wrong (sinful)
  3. And they must do it either by thought or deed.
Edit: The individual must also “want” to do it.
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Hang on a second. You’re not giving the criteria for a ‘sin’ – you’re giving (some of) the criteria for mortal sin:
  1. Grave matter
  2. full knowledge
  3. deliberate consent
A sin is still a sin if it doesn’t meet these three.

(You are correct, of course, that culpability depends on #2 & #3, and is a divine (not human!) judgment…)
 
Hi, Zaccheus!

That’s exactly my point; only the Holy Spirit can tell who is actually suffering from diminished capacity and who is riding the tide…

I can’t judge (I’m commanded not to take God’s Judgment Seat) so I do not; yet, I am a realist… thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people have been pretending “xyz” to get disability checks, cup feels, get free money, and, yes, even get away with murder.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
Hi, Gorgias!

Exactly the point:
Gorgias said:
divine (not human!) judgment
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The problem I keep running into is the minimalist Catholic or non-Catholic or non-Believer approach: ignorance = no sin is committed.

Instead of aspiring to Be Holy people are seeking methods of circumvention… just a few weeks ago there was a fellow schooling me on salvation; to him it seemed quite clear that ignorance merited Salvation… so when I prompted him to start a Bible study so we could make our deliberations from the Biblical perspective, he, resoundingly, refused to engage.

Making ourselves “ignorant” or claiming diminished capacity because we reject God’s Command does not translate to dismissal of personal responsibility.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
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MargaretofCortona said:
Like narcissists, psychopaths and sociopaths
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I see you used the term mental disorder, then mention narcissist etc. Those aren’t terms used in a diagnosis, but general terms used to describe behavior. But I’ll refer to diagnosed mental illnesses.

The sins that are the result of their mental illness…yes

Other sins…not as much

People who have a major mental illness would have next to zero, if not zero, culpability in some instances…even if it were to involve a major crime such as murder.
 
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