There are two opposite errors. The scrupulous soul sees mortal sin where there is none and confesses obsessively. The lax soul sees no sin where there is real sin and rarely confesses at all. Both require a confessor or director; neither can be self-diagnosed.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation has two characteristic failure modes, and they are opposites. Knowing which one you tend toward is itself a major spiritual-direction insight.

Scrupulosity is the disorder of seeing mortal sin where there is none, or of repeatedly confessing the same sin out of fear that the previous absolution did not "take". The scrupulous soul lives in a permanent low-grade panic about salvation. She re-examines her examination. She doubts her contrition. She wonders whether her last Confession was valid because she may have left something out. Classical spiritual directors are unanimous: the scrupulous soul must obey her confessor, not her own anxious conscience. If your confessor tells you that what you are describing is not a mortal sin, it is not a mortal sin, even if your interior judge insists otherwise. The cure for scrupulosity is not more examination; it is more obedience to a trusted external authority.

The opposite failure mode is laxity (sometimes called spiritual presumption). The lax soul sees no sin where there is real sin, treats serious matter as trivial, and avoids Confession because "I haven't done anything that bad." Laxity is harder to self-diagnose because it does not feel like anything — that is its nature. The signs are: long gaps between Confessions; a sense that the sacrament is for "people who have real problems"; difficulty naming any sin in the past month. The cure for laxity is also a confessor, but a different one — a director who will hold you to account.

Note that the two modes can swap. A scrupulous soul who is burned out can pivot to laxity ("nothing matters anymore"). A lax soul who has a spiritual awakening can over-correct into scrupulosity. Both pivots are common around major life events (a death, a conversion, a moral failure). A regular confessor who knows you over years is the single most important protection against either spiral.

Practical signs you tend toward scrupulosity: you re-confess sins that have already been absolved; you experience little or no peace after Confession; you go more than once a week without your director's encouragement; small matters feel mortal to you.

Practical signs you tend toward laxity: you cannot name a sin you struggled with this past week; you have not been to Confession in months despite receiving Communion; your response to the question "what are you working on in the spiritual life?" is a blank.

Neither tendency is a personal failing in the moral sense. They are spiritual-direction matters. Both yield to a confessor who knows you and to honest engagement with the sacrament. Neither yields to private effort alone.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation has two characteristic failure modes, and they are opposites. Knowing which one you tend toward is itself a major spiritual-direction insight, and the inability to diagnose oneself is itself a feature of both disorders.

Scrupulosity is the disorder of seeing mortal sin where there is none, or of repeatedly confessing the same sin out of fear that the previous absolution did not "take." The scrupulous soul lives in a permanent low-grade panic about salvation. She re-examines her examination. She doubts her contrition. She wonders whether her last Confession was valid because she may have left something out, or because she said it with the wrong interior disposition, or because she didn't feel sorry enough. She often makes lists. She often returns to the confessional within days. She does not, characteristically, experience peace after the sacrament — which is the diagnostic. Where the sacrament is being received well, peace follows. Where peace does not follow, something is wrong, and it is more often the scrupulous interior than the sacrament.

The classical spiritual directors — Alphonsus Liguori is the standard reference — are unanimous on the cure: the scrupulous soul must obey her confessor, not her own anxious conscience. If your confessor tells you that what you are describing is not a mortal sin, it is not a mortal sin, even if your interior judge insists otherwise. If your confessor tells you that you have made a good confession, it was a good confession, even if a part of you wants to redo it. This counsel sounds simplistic, but it is in fact a profound act of humility: the scrupulous soul has to renounce her own judgement as the final court. That renunciation is what breaks the spiral.

The opposite failure mode is laxity, sometimes called spiritual presumption. The lax soul sees no sin where there is real sin, treats serious matter as trivial, and avoids Confession because "I haven't done anything that bad." Laxity is harder to self-diagnose because, by its nature, it does not feel like anything — there is no interior alarm because the alarm has been disabled. The signs are external rather than interior: long gaps between Confessions (six months, a year, longer); a sense that the sacrament is for "people who have real problems"; difficulty naming any sin in the past month; casual reception of Communion without prior examination.

The cure for laxity is also a confessor, but a different kind — a director who will hold you to account and not simply reassure you. A good director for a lax soul will ask hard questions: what are you struggling with? When did you last feel a real interior battle against a sin? What grace are you asking for? The honest answer to any of those questions tends to surface what the lax conscience has been hiding from itself.

Note that the two modes can swap. A scrupulous soul who is burned out can pivot to laxity — "nothing matters anymore, it's all psychological." A lax soul who has a spiritual awakening can over-correct into scrupulosity. Both pivots are common around major life events: a death, a conversion, a moral failure, the loss of a spouse, the start or end of therapy. A regular confessor who knows you over years is the single most important protection against either spiral. He will see the pivot coming before you do.

One further note. Neither scrupulosity nor laxity is a moral failing in the simple sense. They are spiritual-direction matters and often have psychological roots. The scrupulous person is often someone with high anxiety or OCD traits; the lax person is often someone defending against shame. The sacrament works on both, but it works most effectively in the hands of a confessor who understands that the moral surface and the psychological depth are connected. If your parish confessor is overwhelmed and short-tempered, find a different one. The Church has many priests; pastoral fit matters. The sacrament is valid regardless, but fruit grows where soil is good.