Scrupulous Scrupulosity

Faith and OCD: Understanding Scrupulosity

For some individuals, OCD doesn’t attack what they believe—it attacks how they believe.

Scrupulosity is a form of OCD that targets faith, conscience, and moral certainty. It often shows up as relentless doubt:

“Did I sin without realizing it?”

“What if my prayer wasn’t sincere enough?”

“What if God is disappointed in me?”

These thoughts are not a reflection of weak faith or poor character. They are symptoms of OCD. Scrupulosity thrives on fear, guilt, and the false belief that we must achieve perfect certainty or flawless obedience to be accepted by God.

From a Christian perspective, this can be especially painful. The very faith meant to bring peace becomes a source of anxiety.

As a Christian counselor, I want to be clear: 

God’s grace is not fragile. 

Salvation is not dependent on mental perfection. 

Scripture consistently points us toward grace, not compulsive self-examination.

Effective treatment for scrupulosity often includes evidence-based approaches such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), while also respecting and honoring a client’s faith. Treatment is not about challenging your beliefs—it is about challenging OCD’s distortion of them.  The goal is to increasingly accept reasonable measures of uncertainty and return to an authentic expression of your faith.  

If your faith feels heavy instead of life-giving, you are not alone—and help is available.  Please reach out to schedule a consultation to learn more about how I can help you with this subtype of OCD and other forms of OCD.