Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Psychology

Questions and Answers

20%

40%

50% (correct)

60%

To decrease anxiety

To improve concentration

To prevent undesirable ideas from entering consciousness (correct)

To increase self-esteem

1–2%

2–3% (correct)

6–7%

4–5%

Depression Signup and view all the answers

Early twenties Signup and view all the answers

Cleaning Signup and view all the answers

Treat comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions Signup and view all the answers

The patient recognizes the thoughts as their own and excessive Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Characterized by ego dystonic, time-consuming obsessions and compulsions that interfere with daily life
Patients recognize their thoughts as excessive and usually try to resist them, but unsuccessfully

Psychoanalytic theory: obsessions prevent undesirable ideas from entering consciousness, e.g. unconscious conflicts (sexual and aggressive)
Behavioural theory: compulsions decrease anxiety, leading to reinforcement of the condition
Biological theory:
- 50% positive family history
- 5-HT abnormalities
- Frontal cortex and basal ganglia abnormalities
- Anankastic premorbid personality traits in 70% of patients

Obsessions: persistent thoughts, images, doubts, or impulses that are worrying, blasphemous, obscene, or socially unacceptable
Content may involve dirt/contamination, sex, aggression, religion, or orderliness
Compulsions: stereotyped acts, recognized as excessive, unreasonable, or exaggerated, often involving cleaning, repeating, checking, orderliness, or hoarding
Mental rituals to decrease anxiety, e.g. counting