Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Case Study

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that fuel fear, leading to increased anxiety and eventual compulsive reactions. Both adults and children that suffer with OCD, are often aware that their thoughts and behaviors are irrational, however, the impulse to perform the compulsive ritual to relieve the anxiety of the obsessive thought, is too powerful for them to ignore. The cycle of anxiety, obsessive thoughts, and compulsive reactions, becomes crippling as it interrupts daily life activities leaving sufferers trapped in repetitious cycles for hours at a time before they feel safe to move to another activity or chore. This dysfunctional pattern of paralyzing fear and dread becomes unmanageable without behavior and medicinal therapy interventions.
Signs & Symptoms A patient with OCD may display either
142) model, is recommended prior to the addition of pharmaceuticals for pediatric patients with mild to moderate OCD. Patients are gradually introduced to situations or stimulants that create feelings of fear and anxiety. The therapist then prevents the patient from performing the habitual compulsive behaviors in response to those feelings. The process is slow and patients are introduced to each new stimulant based on the severity of their reactions. Exposure begins with the patient’s least frightening object or scenario and gradually increases towards the most feared as treatment progresses. Several studies show that through habitual exposure, anxiety and reactions decrease considerably among the pediatric population with encouraging trends towards remission. Pharmacologic adjunct therapy is indicated for patients with more severe OCD or for those that display clinically significant behaviors after undergoing extensive cognitive behavioral therapy alone (www.cdc.gov, 2017 & Jacob & Storch,