Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
(OCD)
Definition
Causes
| Genetic Material |
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| The genes that you inherit from your family may play a role in the development of OCD. |
| Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc. |
Risk Factors
- Age: late adolescence, early adulthood
- Family members with a history of OCD
- Other anxiety disorders
- Depression
- Organic brain syndrome
- Tourette syndrome
- Attention deficit disorder
Symptoms
-
Obsessions—unwanted, repetitive, and intrusive ideas, impulses, or images; common obsessions include:
- Persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one
- Unreasonable concern with being contaminated
- Unacceptable religious, violent, or sexual thoughts
- Excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly
- Persistent worries about a tragic event
-
Compulsions—repetitive behaviors or mental acts to reduce the distress associated with obsessions; common compulsions include:
- Excessive checking of door locks, stoves, water faucets, and light switches
- Repeatedly making lists, counting, arranging, or aligning things
- Collecting and hoarding useless objects
- Repeating routine actions a certain number of times until it feels right
- Unnecessary rereading and rewriting
- Mentally repeating phrases
- Repeatedly washing hands
Diagnosis
- Cause significant distress
- Interfere with your ability to properly perform at work, school, or in relationships
Treatment
Medications
- Fluoxetine (Prozac)
- Fluvoxamine (Luvox)
- Paroxetine (Paxil)
- Sertraline (Zoloft)
Therapy
- Exposure and response prevention—involves gradually confronting the feared object or obsession without giving into the compulsive ritual linked to it
- Aversion therapy—involves using a painful stimulus to prevent OCD behavior
- Thought switching—involves learning to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts
- Flooding—involves being exposed to object that causes OCD behavior
- Implosion therapy—involves being repeatedly exposed to object that causes fear
- Thought stopping—involves learning how to stop negative thoughts
Prevention
RESOURCES
Anxiety Disorders Association of America http://www.adaa.org/
Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation http://ocfoundation.org/
CANADIAN RESOURCES
Canadian Mental Health Association http://www.cmha.ca/
Canadian Psychological Association http://www.cpa.ca/
References
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/ . Updated August 16, 2012. Accessed August 28, 2012.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health website. Available at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml . Accessed August 28, 2012.
OCD risk higher when several variations in gene occur together. National Institute of Mental Health website. Available at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2008/ocd-risk-higher-when-several-variations-in-gene-occur-together.shtml . Published April 7, 2008. Accessed August 28, 2012.
4/16/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php : Simpson HB, Foa EB, Liebowitz MR, et al. A randomized, controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for augmenting pharmacotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2008;165:621-630. Epub 2008 Mar 3.