OCD Psychiatrist Serving New London, CT

You've prayed. You've confessed. You've done the ritual, the reading, the apology — and for a moment you feel okay. Then the thought returns: what if that wasn't sincere enough? What if you're beyond forgiveness? What if the thought you just had was blasphemous — and you're a terrible person for thinking it? This is scrupulosity, also called religious OCD. It's one of the cruelest forms of OCD because it attaches itself to the thing that's supposed to bring comfort — faith, morality, a sense of self as a good person — and turns it into a source of unrelenting dread.

What Scrupulosity Actually Is

Scrupulosity is OCD with a religious or moral theme. The obsessions might center on sin — fear that you've committed one, fear that you'll commit one, fear that a thought you had was sinful. They might focus on blasphemy: an intrusive thought that feels like it contradicts your faith, which the OCD then insists makes you a bad believer. Or the theme might be moral rather than religious — an unrelenting sense that you've done something wrong, hurt someone, acted dishonestly — even when nothing of the sort happened. The compulsions that follow (prayer, confession, mental review, apology) follow the same OCD cycle as any other form: relief, reset, repeat.

OCD Is Not a Faith Problem

A lot of people with scrupulosity spend years thinking their struggle is a spiritual one — that they just need to believe more, pray more, confess more. And religious communities sometimes inadvertently reinforce this, because the compulsions look like devotion from the outside. But the distress you feel isn't coming from your faith. It's coming from OCD, which has chosen your faith as its vehicle. The good news is that treating the OCD doesn't require leaving your beliefs behind — it requires understanding that the anxiety and the doubt are not divine signals. They're OCD symptoms.

Getting Real Support in New London

Sindhia Shyras, APRN — board-certified, nine years of experience — works with Connecticut residents dealing with OCD of all kinds, including scrupulosity. Your first visit is a full psychiatric evaluation in a non-judgmental space — she's not there to evaluate your beliefs, only to understand what the OCD is doing to your life. Treatment typically includes SSRIs (which reduce the intensity of obsessive thoughts) and, when appropriate, a referral to a therapist trained in ERP for religious OCD specifically. She accepts Aetna, Cigna, Husky Health, Medicaid, United Healthcare, Anthem, ConnectiCare, and self-pay.

Frequently Asked Questions