Navigating Religious OCD

Quinn's Experience with Scrupulosity: "You can struggle for a decade AND things can get better"

In this interview, Quinn Kunz shares his personal journey with scrupulosity and how deeply it’s impacted his life. From his early experiences in middle school, where guilt and anxiety began to take hold, to the challenges he faced in relationships and his faith, Quinn shares an honest account of living with this condition. Quinn discusses how scrupulosity led to a relentless cycle of doubt and compulsive confession, affecting his ability to connect with others and maintain a healthy relationship with his faith. Despite trying traditional talk therapy, Quinn found that it often exacerbated his anxiety rather than alleviating it. Instead, he discovered that medication played a crucial role in helping him manage his symptoms and regain mental clarity. Throughout the conversation, Quinn emphasizes the importance of understanding scrupulosity and finding the right support. He shares insights into how shifting his focus from feeling the Holy Ghost to studying Christ’s life and living as He would has brought him peace and relief. This episode offers hope and practical advice for those struggling with similar challenges, highlighting that recovery is possible with the right tools. Join us as we explore Quinn's story and the valuable lessons he’s learned along the way, providing encouragement and guidance for anyone facing the complexities of religious OCD. YouTube Video- Quinn's Experience with Scrupulosity “You can struggle for a decade AND things can get better”: https://youtu.be/RySglhuzN-c Website: Navigating Religious OCD https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/ [https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/] Email: navigatingreligiousocd@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/ [https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd [https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd] Contents of this episode:0:01 - Introduction and Welcome * 0:29 - Quinn's Early Experiences with Scrupulosity * 1:49 - The Cycle of Confession and Anxiety * 7:14 - Impact on Relationships * 16:30- Struggles with Therapy and Finding the Right Help * 22:01 - Understanding Exposure Therapy * 26:17- Exposure Therapy for Scrupulosity * 27:00- Guided Script for Written Exposure as Given in “Freedom for Scrupulosity” by Debra McClendon * 28:25- Exposure Example from Sariah  * 33:41 - Quinn's Relationship with Jesus and Spiritual Growth * 42:33 - Final Thoughts and Message to Others Resources: McClendon, D. T. (2023). Freedom from scrupulosity: Reclaiming your religious experience from anxiety and OCD. Religious Studies Center & Deseret Book.  Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Waiting for this Moment License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: Deed - Attribution 3.0 Unported - Creative Commons [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en]

"The distance between me and God just decreases"

In this podcast episode, Sariah Harrison and Lydia Pitt share pieces of their experience with Religious OCD or Scrupulosity. They discuss how an experience with scrupulosity can feel like having a contingency based relationship with God that's driven by anxiety and fear.  They discuss resources that have been helpful in their efforts to navigate this struggle. They also discuss pieces of their personal experience with exposures, the gold standard treatment for OCD.  Youtube "The distance between me and God just decreases" Video: https://youtu.be/DBIlMxIFpUQ Website: Navigating Religious OCD https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/ Email: navigatingreligiousocd@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd Contents of this episode: 00:00- Intro 00:34- Lydia’s Story 06:16- OCPD 07:24- Living by the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law 09:07- Getting access to help in the mission field 10:34- Pieces of Sariah’s journey to get help 12:02- Lydia’s experience seeking help in the mission field 14:08- Your best looks different everyday 18:01- Jesus wants to wash YOUR feet- perspective shifts on mental health 21:22- God is good at connecting  23:58- Pieces of Lydia’s experience with exposures 27:01- “The Gifts of Imperfection” 27:59- Experiencing Exposures 37:40- Lydia’s message to those struggling & her witness of Jesus 39:53- Conclusion  Resources: Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Waiting for this Moment License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: Deed - Attribution 3.0 Unported - Creative Commons

My prayer was fueling the OCD

In this podcast episode, Sariah Harrison shares a moment of anxiety and concern where she turned to God in prayer and then realized that her prayer was actually fueling an experience with OCD. She shares what God told her when she recognized this.  Sariah discusses how her perspective on prayer has changed. She discusses how she's had to consider what role prayer is playing in any given moment or her instead of just believing prayer is always good.  She had no clue prayer at different times could be fueling an experience with OCD.  OCD can also be so disguised- especially for religious OCD because it’s centered on legitimate religious beliefs and practices.  YouTube “My prayer was fueling the OCD” Video: https://youtu.be/Lj4SawUG_70 [https://youtu.be/Lj4SawUG_70] Website: Navigating Religious OCD https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/ [https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/] Email: navigatingreligiousocd@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/ [https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd [https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd] Contents of this episode: 00:00- Intro 00:34- Welcome & Episode Overview 00:41- Real OCD Moments Intro 01:28- The Beginning of the Story 01:49- I was obsessively concerned… 02:42- Why it’s difficult to recognize anxiety when you’re experiencing it 03:03- Becoming increasingly concerned 03:42- Turning to God was fueling the OCD? 04:05- What God told me 05:07- This was a massive breakthrough for me because… 05:46- I’m not saying don’t pray. I’m saying… 06:43- Experiencing deeper connection with God 08:20- Conclusion Resources: Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Waiting for this Moment License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en]

What real OCD can look like: Part 2

In this podcast episode, Sariah Harrison explains many different subtypes of OCD including purely obsessional OCD, real event OCD, relationship OCD, responsibility OCD, suicidal OCD, and religious OCD or scrupulosity. She shares pieces of her personal experience with many of these, breaking down what obsessions and compulsions- the O and C in OCD- can actually look like.  OCD can be so debilitating and it can also be so disguised- especially for religious OCD.  YouTube “What real OCD can look like Part 2” Video: https://youtu.be/OLNStlHbIRw [https://youtu.be/OLNStlHbIRw] Website: Navigating Religious OCD https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/ [https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/] Email: navigatingreligiousocd@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd Contents of this episode: 00:00- Intro 00:35- Welcome & episode overview 00:44- Purely Obsessional- OCD Disguised 01:06- I didn’t recognize my experience with OCD as OCD. Here’s why… 02:15- Common compulsions with purely obsessional OCD 02:49- Real Event OCD 03:03- Real Event OCD- Analyzing past experiences 03:49- Common obsessions with Real Event OCD 04:10- OCD Obsessions do not align with your real desires & values 04:48- With OCD, there’s often intense anxiety. Here’s why… 05:00- Reassurance seeking- a common compulsions with real event OCD 05:29- Life with OCD becomes very narrow 06:32- Relationship OCD 07:54- Responsibility OCD 09:00- Intrusive suicidal thoughts that go against your true desires 10:13- What is Suicidal OCD? 10:24- Pieces of my experience with Suicidal OCD 13:03- Summary of Subtypes of OCD 13:48- Diving into Scrupulosity- What this can look like 14:38- How scrupulosity hijacks your religious experience 15:07- Scrupulosity defined 15:23- With Religious OCD there can be a lot of concern about doing things “right” 16:05- Pieces of my experience with Religious OCD 17:35- With Scrupulosity there’s serious anxiety around… 17:44- With Scrupulosity, it feels like your spiritual wellbeing is being threatened 19:23- Religious OCD can be so disguised 20:19- Real OCD Moments Introduction 20:36- Conclusion Resources: Johnson, J. C. (2018). Silent souls weeping: Depression- sharing stories, finding hope. Deseret Book. Therapy in a Nutshell. https://therapyinanutshell.com/ McClendon, D. T. (2023). Freedom from scrupulosity: Reclaiming your religious experience from anxiety and OCD. Religious Studies Center & Deseret Book. McGrath, P. (2025, May 22). A quick guide to some common OCD subtypes. NOCD / Treat My OCD. https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/a-quick-guide-to-some-common-ocd-subtypes This article was used as a guide to describe the different subtypes of OCD. Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Waiting for this Moment License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en]

What real OCD can look like: Part 1

In this podcast episode, Sariah Harrison explains many different types of OCD including checking OCD, contamination OCD, hoarding OCD, and just right or perfectionism OCD. She shares examples for how some of these have shown up in her experience with OCD. She also shares an experience with Religious OCD that happened this past week after giving a talk in church.  OCD can be so debilitating! At the end of the episode, Sariah discusses a super common misconception that she believed & shares how this was a big barrier in recognizing her experience with OCD as OCD.  YouTube “What real OCD can look like” Video: https://youtu.be/vDPj6jMSWew [https://youtu.be/vDPj6jMSWew] Website: Navigating Religious OCD https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/ [https://www.navigatingreligiousocd.com/] Email: navigatingreligiousocd@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/ [https://www.instagram.com/navigatingreligiousocd/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd [https://www.facebook.com/navigatingreligiousocd] Contents of this episode: 00:00- Intro 00:34- Episode Overview 00:44- Quick Review 01:15- The Brain: Protecting from ANY perceived threat 01:33- A need for safety in every aspect  02:47- OCD about my talk in church? My experience this past week 06:41- What my therapist helped me see 07:15- The difference between subtypes of OCD is… 07:50- Resource to find an OCD specialized therapist in your area 08:34- OCD affects MANY areas of someone’s life 09:02- OCD Subtypes article  09:10- What is Checking OCD? 10:16- What is Contamination OCD? 11:15- From the outside looking in vs. from inside looking out… 11:42- What is Hoarding OCD? 12:44- What is “Just Right” (Perfectionism) OCD?  13:09- How Just Right OCD has shown up for me since starting the podcast 14:02- How Just Right OCD showed up for me in college 15:09- How Just Right OCD has showed up for me at work 15:33- OCD can be so debilitating 15:40- I believed this super common misconception 16:50- Conclusion Resources: Johnson, J. C. (2018). Silent souls weeping: Depression- sharing stories, finding hope. Deseret Book.  Therapy in a Nutshell. https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbkFTa3lKYjE3dzk3eFVoTndndzI0M1Bmd3FLZ3xBQ3Jtc0trdDNXZHctdUZFck0zVmdjdEFaSjZRSlJrQkhZMTBkUkI0SVotb2lSaUtBTVl4VkxZUks4LXhhR2NJUGVOb2NCX3I5T044bjBsSXZCQ2FXajFBaXNwTVQ4SWNQUWZkNnNxSUktTk41VU52U0JiQllGTQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Ftherapyinanutshell.com%2F&v=nKMG87Ni7C8https://therapyinanutshell.com/ [https://therapyinanutshell.com/] McGrath, P. (2025, May 22). A quick guide to some common OCD subtypes. NOCD / Treat My OCD. https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/a-quick-guide-to-some-common-ocd-subtypes [https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/a-quick-guide-to-some-common-ocd-subtypes?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Music: Vlad Gluschenko — Waiting for this Moment License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en]