ABSTRACT
Scrupulosity is not a self-standing disorder according to the DSM-5. Rather, it seems to combine one of the traits characteristic of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) with some of the symptomatology of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The symptomatology in question is persistent and intrusive thoughts particularly about real or possible failures to meet the demands of morality which cause anxiety and distress and lead to compulsive and repetitive patterns of behaviour that aim, but ultimately fail, to cope with the underlying thoughts and emotions. Psychiatry is a branch of medicine. Its aim is to alleviate suffering and to help and care for people, not harm them. Perhaps, then, Summers and Sinnott-Armstrong mean to focus not on whether a psychiatrist would be justified in forcing or coercing treatment for scrupulosity over objection, but rather on whether a psychiatrist would be justified simply in offering treatment or trying to persuade a patient to be treated over objection.
