“Janet” is an Oxbridge PhD student, and was in a religious cult as a teenager.
She read something about ‘scrupulosity’ on the web, and recognised her own avoidance of churches, tombstones, and profanity on television. Issuing frantic prayers when somebody swore or used off-colour language, she also avoided cooking, shopping for food, brushing her teeth, and eating leftovers.
Moreover, Janet never left the house – even for lectures – during her monthly menstruation cycle. Living on takeaway deliveries, she described herself as “a social misfit”, and worried she might remain “single for life”.
The first and second steps of the programme were a breakthrough for Janet, and it was only a matter of a couple of months of support before she was able to understand what was happening inside her head.
Now able to socialise with ease, she is known for her Friday night dinner parties – and has been seeing a man she met in her chemistry class. He is fully aware of her past struggle, and is now instrumental to her ‘lifelong mastery’ plan