Scrupulosity and OCD

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seeker63

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I have OCD and the deeper I’ve gotten into the examination of my conscience, the more sins I seem to uncover. And at the same time I’ve started questioning whether or not I’m developing scrupulosity. Any ideas on this?
 
Scrupulosity and OCD travel hand in hand. The best thing to do to nip the scrupulosity in the bud is to choose a regular confessor, discuss your scrupulosity and your OCD with him, then submit yourself completely in obedience to him. Obedience brings much peace to those who practice it. Don’t second guess yourself or the priest, and don’t shop around for another priest because you’re afraid the one you have isn’t leading you in the right direction. The spiritual reality is, even if he errs in his judgment of you, it is the priest and not you who is responsible. Your obedience pleases God and is quite enough.

God bless you and give you peace.
Betsy
 
I would spend too much time worrying about it.

I don’t have ocd but when I returned to the church after a long time and over came a major vice (by the grace of God and daily working at it) I began to notice all the smaller vices and realized how bad they were.

After that 1st confession after about 20 years it seemed like I needed to go back 1 hour after. It takes work and one of the keys is confession, prayer and receiving the eucharist.

Even St. Paul was amazed dispite all his faith and works that he was so sinful, he even refered to himself a cheif of sinners.

There was a great line I heard from a Peter Kreeft lecture that only the good man understands how bad he is, the bad man is oblivoius to it. It is better to be a saint that belives he is a sinner than a sinner beliving he is a saint.

Just remember we are all sinners.

My suggestion is go to Confession and never look back at forgiven sins. Yes you may end up falling many times but don’t lose heart, ask for the Lord’s help and move on.

Beebs
 
Well, I fell into the bad habit for a few months of missing Mass. I had a stressful job and was very depressed, and when I wasn’t working I just wanted to stay home and hide and decompress. But after I quit the job and started feeling better I was just too lazy to go.

I finally shook that off and started going back to church, but have been going to Confession pretty much every week since. And the increased self-examination has dated from that time.
 
I am pleased to hear you are attending mass and going weekly to confession.

I guess what I am saying is don’t be too hard on yourself.

You might want to read some books on the subject. The Scott Hahn Book “Lord Have Mercy” might be helpful.

I’ll pray for you.

Beebs
 
Yes, it was very strange then. I was praying, doing devotions, reading extensively on Catholicism, but was skipping the most important part of all–the Eucharist! I sometimes wonder where my head has been lately.
 
The important thing is that you are trying. You are on the right path and trying to do the right thing. Don’t beat yourself up. God understands. I’ve been in your shoes, sometimes I’m there every week. Every day can be a real battle at times. Focus in on his love and mercy. Read up on what Jesus said to Sister Faustina regarding Divine Mercy. It’s some pretty cool stuff.
 
I have struggled with this problem extensively. Although my OCD is mostly in check now, the scrupulocity has not entirely gone away. My advice is this. Find a good, orthodox, and loving Priest to go to confession with on a regular basis. Let him know that you are struggling with scrupulocity and OCD; then be absolutely obedient to him in the matters of when you should go to confession and when you can go to communion. You might feel like you shouldn’t go to communion even when he tells you to but because of the scrupulocity, you can’t really know when you should go and when you shuoldn’t. For that reason, you need someone to tell you who speaks for Christ. Be obedient to your confessor as you would be to Christ. Remember, Christ promised the Apostles and their successors, "Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and what ever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.
 
“You might feel like you shouldn’t go to communion even when he tells you to but because of the scrupulocity, you can’t really know when you should go and when you shuoldn’t.”

EXACTLY!!! I have been tormenting myself wondering if I have made a mis-step and am taking Communion inappropriately.

And a few months back, when I fell into the habot of not going to Mass, first because I was stressed from my job and wanted to stay home, then later out of laziness, I convinced myself that if I missed Confession there wasn’t much point in just going and watching and participating spiritually.

The mind is a torture device sometimes.
 
I know my priest in his prayer after I confess my sins he says, “For all your sins now and those YOU CANNOT REMEMBER…”
This is a relief to me. It puts me in the position to KNOW and believe that these sins are forgiven.

I had a problem with this too, but just out of nowhere, the grace of God , started to act upon me.

II still have problems that I struggle iwth, but you can look at it this way. Satan keep bugging me that ‘no your sins were not forgiven’. “Get behind me Satan!”
 
Well, I don’t doubt that the absolution covers the sins I’ve forgotten, but I do worry if I’ve sinned between Confession and the Mass. Now that isn’t much of a problem if I go to Mass a few minutes after confessing, but I do get worried if I happen to go to Mass during the week and a few days have passed.
 
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seeker63:
Well, I don’t doubt that the absolution covers the sins I’ve forgotten, but I do worry if I’ve sinned between Confession and the Mass. Now that isn’t much of a problem if I go to Mass a few minutes after confessing, but I do get worried if I happen to go to Mass during the week and a few days have passed.
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Maybe you can try this:
Before going to bed tonight, sit in silent prayer with God and ask Him to reveal to you any sins you may have committed during today. Write them down and put them in a private place.

I don’t know if this is correct, but the next time you go to confession, take that list with you and ask the priest of any of those you wrote down are actual sins or not.
Discerning which are real sins and with ones are temptations may help you.

Also, do you have trouble figuring out which sins are venial and mortal? You can askt he priest this as well. Venial sins are cleared up in Mass when we ask God for forgiveness just within the first few minutes of the Mass.
 
seeker63 said:
“You might feel like you shouldn’t go to communion even when he tells you to but because of the scrupulocity, you can’t really know when you should go and when you shuoldn’t.”

EXACTLY!!! I have been tormenting myself wondering if I have made a mis-step and am taking Communion inappropriately.

And a few months back, when I fell into the habot of not going to Mass, first because I was stressed from my job and wanted to stay home, then later out of laziness, I convinced myself that if I missed Confession there wasn’t much point in just going and watching and participating spiritually.

The mind is a torture device sometimes.
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That’s why you need a confessor/spriritual advisor. You may be struggling with certain sins on a regular basis and commit these sins between confession and communion. The confessor can tell you if they are mortal or not in your case and if he determines that they are not, he can place you under obedience to go to communion even if you commit these sins before getting to go to confession the next time around.
 
…“he can place you under obedience to go to communion even if you commit these sins before getting to go to confession the next time around.”

I’ve not heard of that before.

I used to take a list with me into the Confessional, just because I have ADD, a wandering mind, and a lousy short-term memory. But lately my list has become shorter.

One problem is I don’t have a regular confessor. I confess at a variety of churches. I worry the priest will recognize my voice and notice I keep making the same mistakes week after week. And I’ve never confessed at the parish I’m actually a member of. As a result, I’ve not been to Mass in my own parish in a long time.

And yes, I do have some trouble telling what’s not mortal. Some are pretty obvious. I don’t mean to be disgusting, but it’s easy to know when you’ve masturbated or something. But then on the other hand there’s sins of the tongue or the mind.
 
there is a good book from catholic answers on scrupulosity. the name of the book is understanding scruplosity, it helped me a lot.
 
I definitely think a spiritual advisor is the way to go. That way you can be “scrupulous” about following the advisor, and feel secure in knowing they will steer you in a healthy, holy direction.

cheddar
 
I keep hearing the term spiritual advisor but am unsure what one is. How do they differ from a confessor?
 
Seeker, a good confessor should be able to help you with recurring sins. So think over the ones you’ve been to, and pick the one who makes you feel the most forgiven. Then keep going to him!

I hereby order you NOT to pick the one you think will be hardest on you.

… And I, too, want the answer to “what’s a spiritual advisor?”
 
My 15-year-old son has OCD and struggles with scrupulosity, too. They DO go hand in hand, as someone else here noted.

The best thing he did was to find a confessor who got to know him and understand his OCD. This priest knows my son well now and can help him see what is truly a sin and whas is scrupulosity.

People will disagree with me here, but I believe strongly in face-to-face confessions for just such reasons – having a confessor who knows you is not only good for your soul, but good for your mental health. At least it has been for my son.

'thann
 
Contact Scrupulous Anonymous. (do a search on this forum; the contact information appears in several places.) Get their free monthly newsletter.

SA also has a book that came out a couple of years ago. It’s quite inexpensive.

When you go to confession, tell the priest right at the beginning that you suffer from OCD and scrupulousity. He will take it from there.

Trust me, confessors deal with this issue ALL THE TIME.
 
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