2.1. Escaping the Trap

The different components of the human being have been identified in a previous section. This section exists to explain how all those components are affected by scrupulosity, and to address each one individually. An important concept to keep in the back of your mind going forward is that scrupulosity is self-reinforcing. The ongoing processes of scrupulosity in each component of the person feed back into and fuel not only themselves, but the processes of scrupulosity in the other components. I’m not a doctor, but something I found personally true after much failure and suffering is that the battles for each piece of yourself cannot be fought one at a time. Any attempt to do so will quickly meet defeat as the entrenched scrupulosity reinforces the aspect of itself under attack. Instead, as exhausting and brutally difficult as it seems at first glance, the war must be waged on all fronts simultaneously.

As previously mentioned, scrupulosity is a subtype of OCD, itself a subtype of anxiety disorder. As such, as difficult to believe as it may seem, scrupulosity is fundamentally a disease of emotion. Yet emotion alone is not how the condition perpetuates itself, and this section will be looking at the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of scrupulosity. Please bear in mind before proceeding that while an attempt to isolate the effects of scrupulosity to each component will be made, these components are all intricately connected in ways only God truly understands, and as such, there may be overlap.

To wrap this up, I want to be open about expectations. Something hard to accept is that complete cure from scrupulosity (as with many forms of OCD) is far less common than control, and I am no exception. There are still days once in a while where I struggle to believe God could possibly love me, but those days are increasingly far and few between, orders of magnitude less intense when they do arise, as well as less difficult to slap down and escape.
The other expectations I want to address are those of time and ease. The path back from scrupulosity is uniquely difficult, and will require time to walk. I was blessed with a good support system, and it took just shy of a year to reach the point I am now. I’m no neuroscientist or great theologian, but suspect this time will vary significantly from person to person. You may be faster than me. You may be significantly slower. Just don’t give up on the Lord.

Finally, I must again stress that I’m not a doctor, therapist, or expert of any kind. Just a man granted victory by God in His Grace. I pray this helps you find freedom in Christ.