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Genetic and Environmental Influences on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

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Genetic and Environmental Influences on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
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Grisham, J. R., Anderson, T. M., & Sachdev, P. S. (2008, February 23). Genetic and Environmental Influences on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/u760067200680622/fulltext.pdf

Jessica R. Grisham has a Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales, Tracy M. Anderson is a certified nurse mid-wife of over ten years, and Dr. Perminder S. Sachdev is Clinical Director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute. In this article, they describe the current knowledge of possible genetic and environmental contributions to the development of OCD. While evidence shows that genetics may make an individual vulnerable to OCD, environmental factors can lead to the development of this disorder in a vulnerable individual. In one study, an association between OCD in the parents and OCD in their first degree relatives was confirmed, as 45 and 65% of the children with OCD parents received similar symptoms. However, no single gene was found to be the main root of the disorder. Other studies suggest that stressful or traumatic events may also be a leading factor. Individuals with OCD showed to have had significantly more negative events occur in their lives than in normal people, such as depression, childhood physical or sexual abuse, and continuous stress. These influences tend to act with the victim’s genes to develop the most common OCD symptoms. This unbiased article offers a substantial intake on the chief causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Stewart, E. S., & Pauls, D. L. (2010, June 1). The Genetics of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Retrieved from http://focus.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx? articleid=53202

Evelyn S. Stewart and David L. Pauls have both received a Ph.D. at Harvard, and are employed at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In this article, they summarize their belief that OCD is originated from both biological and environmental factors. Over the years, family studies conduced since the

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