Jinger Duggar hasn't been shy about the ways that growing up in her family's cult-like religion, the Institute in Basic Life Principles, still affects her to this day. During an appearance on the Mayim Bialik's Breakdown podcast, Jinger admitted she could be suffering from religious OCD after everything she's been through.
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Jinger chatted with Mayim about her difficult upbringing.
She admitted that she had a lot of anxiety about doing the right things to please God as she'd been taught by her religion that it "affected everything" in her life. "There was a lot of fear I had to work through."
This led Mayim to do a little analysis on Jinger's mental health situation, being that's what her podcast is all about.
Mayim believes that Jinger could be struggling with 'scrupulosity.'
According to Heathline, scrupulosity is a moral or religion-based type of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, that leads to obsessive thoughts over the fear of doing something that goes against someone's religion.
"That’s, like, literally the definition of OCD, that people have these compulsive behaviors that they believe will guarantee them safety and, like, freedom from the obsessions," Mayim said. "It’s kind of interesting because what you describe sounds a lot like your brain latched on to something, you know, and it became, like, this kind of focus for you."
Jinger said that, as a child, she had a feeling like 'God is out to get you.'
"I'd wake up in the morning, or if I was going to bed at night, I'd be terrified and in fear, thinking, 'Have I done what's right?'" Jinger said. "Did I forget any of the principles? Did I forget what I'm supposed to do? Oh no, I've made this vow to God, now I need to wake up. It's 11:50, I need to wake up, read my Bible for 5 minutes, pray for 5 minutes, or God's gonna s[m]ite me dead."
That sounds stressful for anyone to deal with, let alone a child.
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She would also judge others for whether they were following the rules set by the IBLP.
"I would kind of look at other people outside of our circles and think, 'OK, maybe they’re walking with God. Maybe they’re not.' Because you kind of see differences," Jinger said. "If women wore pants in their family, I was like, ‘OK, well I know they’re not obeying every rule as they’re supposed to."
She added that she "wholeheartedly believed" that following the rules laid out by the IBLP to the letter was the only way to "guarantee success" for her family.
Now, it appears Jinger is doing much better.
She seems happier since she started opening up about her experiences in the IBLP, and hopefully, speaking out about what she's been through is helping her on her journey to heal. It's not easy to walk away from a situation like that, but so far, Jinger seems to be making herself proud.
