Reviewed by : ............................... / JC2
a) Definitions, Measures, Examples of Obsessions and Compulsions
DEFINITION OF OBSESSIONS & COMPULSIONS
Obsessions involve recurring and persistent thoughts, images, or impulses that are experienced as inappropriate, intrusive, and anxiety provoking, and are not just excessive worries about real-life problems.
Compulsions involve repetitive and rule following behaviour or mental acts that the sufferer feels driven to perform (often in response to an obsession) to reduce distress or to avoid an imagined catastrophe.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder characterised by persistent obsessional thoughts and/or compulsive acts.
CASE STUDIES OF/EXAMPLES (e.g. ‘Charles’ by Rappaport, 1989, or others)
Charles was a boy who was unable to rid himself of a feeling of ‘stickiness’, despite 3 hours a day in the shower. His obsession is over the feeling of stickiness and his compulsive act is showering for hours.
MEASURES
Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI)
Form
4 subscales
30 items – True or False - self report questionnaire
Washing/Cleaning
Checking
Slowness
Doubting
+ : reliable, the 2 subscales (washing & checking) were proven to be valid, quantitative measure: easy to calculate.
: the response is limited to true or false, can not detect the severity of one’s OCD; only 2 compulsions are involved (not generalisable to other compulsive acts).
b) Explanations & Treatments of OCD
APPROACH
EXPLANATIONS
TREATMENTS
EVALUATIONS
Biomedical
a) Genetic
b) Neurotransmitter
c) Brain functions
Family of OCD patients are 10x more likely to have OCD.
Serotonin deficiency
(OCD can be treated with SSRI and SSRI can increase serotonin. So, OCD is caused by lack of serotonin).
High level of dopamine
(there is a similar increase in metabolic activity with those who have Tourette’s syndrome and TS is known