Beyond Devotion: The Mental Health Impact Of Religious Obsession

March 28, 2026

Scrupulosity, or religious OCD, is a specialized form of OCD that targets an individual’s faith and moral values. This condition crosses the line into mental illness when obsessive fears about sin or salvation begin to negatively interfere with daily life. Our experts explain how to recognize the signs of scrupulosity and the specialized treatments that can help patients restore a healthy relationship with their faith.

Guest Information:

Dr. Emily Bailey, psychologist, Atlanta OCD and Anxiety Treatment, LLC
Jaimie Eckert, scrupulosity patient & advocate

The signs of scrupulosity can be difficult to recognize because many faiths praise this type of devotion. However, Dr. Bailey says the line between healthy and unhealthy is drawn when it starts to negatively influence your life.

These continuous thoughts began to snowball into larger questions and doubts that would get stuck in Eckert’s head. does god exist? is my religion the true faith?