Hannah Comeau - Scrupulosity as a Teenage Girl in Rexburg, Idaho Pt. 3 | Ep. 1310

When Faith and Mental Illness Intersect: Understanding Scrupulosity in Mormon Contexts

What happens when religious devotion becomes indistinguishable from obsessive-compulsive disorder? Hannah Comeau's story, shared on the Mormon Stories podcast, illuminates a rarely discussed intersection between strict religious practice and undiagnosed mental illness, one that may affect far more LDS members than anyone has documented. Her account of struggling with scrupulosity as a teenager in Rexburg, Idaho offers both a personal narrative and a broader cautionary tale about how religious environments can either exacerbate or mask serious anxiety disorders.

Scrupulosity, the pathological form of religious conscientiousness, is an established OCD presentation that causes sufferers to ruminate endlessly over perceived moral failures and religious violations. Yet within faith communities where rigorous self-examination is doctrinally encouraged, distinguishing healthy spirituality from obsessive pathology becomes extraordinarily difficult. Comeau's experience raises a critical question for the LDS Church: How many members conflate scrupulosity with righteousness, and what institutional changes might better protect vulnerable individuals?

The Scrupulosity-Faith Crisis Connection

According to the Mormon Stories podcast featuring Hannah Comeau, her teenage years were dominated by intrusive thoughts focused on LDS doctrine, particularly concerns about polygamy, a historical practice that triggered cycles of fear and rumination. What made her experience especially difficult was that no one around her recognized these thought patterns as symptoms of OCD. Instead, they were interpreted as signs of spiritual seriousness or doctrinal confusion.

This misidentification matters deeply. When a religiously scrupulous person struggles with their faith, observers typically assume they're experiencing a crisis of belief rather than a mental health emergency. The distinction changes everything about how that person is supported, or harmed.