Can it be a sin to obsess constantly if everything is a sin?

[StrawberryJam]

If a person has to ask minute details about insignifigant sins classifyed as venial by catholic standards, and worries about committing a sin(s) like this, usually on shaky ground to begin with, but anyway- is it sinful to constantly live in fear of sin instead of love?
But, as my title states, if everything is a sin to someone, can’t their culpability be lowerd a bit?

 

[LilyM]

It’s called scrupulosity (kinda the spiritual version of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). It’s a disorder, not a sin.

In some situations, potentially it could lower someone’s culpability, I guess. Offhand I can’t think of a good example where it would affect someone in such a way as to make a real sin not a sin for a sufferer, but I’m sure there are cases.

 

[Tsuwano]

It’s called scrupulosity (kinda the spiritual version of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). It’s a disorder, not a sin.

In some situations, potentially it could lower someone’s culpability, I guess. Offhand I can’t think of a good example where it would affect someone in such a way as to make a real sin not a sin for a sufferer, but I’m sure there are cases.

It is indeed a disorder which may, in some cases, require a priest to recommend counseling. It is a great challenge for the confessor and requires a great deal of patience on his part. I once heard a priest compare listening to an extremely scrupulous confession with being “nibbled to death by a duck.” It’s a kind of torture, not only for the penitent, but for the confessor as well.

 

[Michael1985]

One of the big problems with this disorder is it causes people to focus on very small sins, not even sin but imperfections.

I’ve seen people obsess about some minor detail, they have other much bigger sins to deal with and these go attended because they are so busy worry about the small things. Often it is a way of avoiding dealing with something.