ocd

• what does ocd stand for?

  • obsessive compulsive disorder
• what type of disorder is ocd?

  • anxiety disorder
• characteristics of ocd?

  • involves frequent intrusive & unwelcome obsessional thoughts
  • often followed by repetitive compulsions, impulses, urges
• what is the ocd cycle?

  • obsessions - thoughts
  • anxiety - emotional
  • compulsions - behaviour/actions
  • relief - removing anxiety
• 2 behavioural characteristics?

  1. compulsions
  2. avoidance
• explain compulsions?

  • repeatedly carry out a behaviour
  • e.g washing yourself 3/4 times to reduce anxiety
• explain avoidance?

  • avoiding situations which cause obsessesion/compulsions
  • e.g not going to public toilets
• 3 emotional characteristics?

  1. anxiety & distress
  2. accompanying depression
  3. guilt & disgust
• explain anxiety & distress?

  • feel anxious if compulsion is not carried out & worrying something bad will happen
• explain accompanying depression?

  • those that suffer from ocd comorbidly suffer from depression as they have a low mood
• explain guilt & disgust?

  • guilty for their feelings & disgust in themselves/towards something else
• 3 cognitive characteristics?

  1. obsessive intrusive thoughts
  2. cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions
  3. selective attention
• explain obsessive thoughts?

  • having repetitive thought that they need to carry out a behaviour to prevent something bad from happening
• explain cognitive strategies?

  • coming up with a way to deal with obsession
  • e.g praying/ritualistic thinking
• explain selective attention?

  • directed towards the anxiety generating stimuli
• biological explanation for ocd?

  ocd is caused by physical/bodily problem
• name 2 sub explanations of ocd?

  1. genetic
  2. neural - neurotransmitters & brain structure
• explain neurotransmitters?

  • produced from brain
  • chemicals that transmit electrical messages from one nerve cell to another
  • suggests that ocd caused by imbalance in nt within brain
• what is serotonin?

  • mood regulator
• explain brain structure?

  • ocd caused by problems with structures of brain
  • several areas of frontal lobes are thought to be abnormal in ocd patients
  • person with ocd has high levels of activity in orbital frontal cortex
• what is orbital frontal cortex(ofc)?

  • linked to carrying out an activity due to an impulse
• explain genetics?

  • ocd may be inherited
  • this vulnerability may be passed on across generations
• explain ocd is polygenic?

  • taylor 2013 found that there are up to 230 different genes that may be involved in disorder
• explain ocd is aetiologically heterogenous?

  • there are number of different combinations of genes that can lead to disorder & this combination will vary between people
• carey & gottesman (1981)?

  • found that monozygotic twins have concordance rate of 87%
  • dizygotic twins - 47%
  • shows that genetics must play role in ocd as those who are more genetically similar are more likely to share same disorder than those less genetically similar
• what are candidate genes?

  • specific genes which mean people are more likely to suffer from ocd
• explain sert gene?

  • serotonin
  • if mutated creates lower levels of serotonin in a person
• explain comt gene?

  • dopamine - linked to pleasure & satisfaction
  • if too much - brain becomes saturated with dopamine & less responsive to pleasure
  • if too little - brains does not receive rewards it should get for completing a task
  • leads to brain needing to complete tasks repeatedly in order to feel satisfied
• what is drug therapy?

  • works by altering amount of neurotransmitters in brain
• what is ssri?

  • selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
  • type of drug
  • e.g prozac - brand
• what does ssri do?

  • increase amount of serotonin by blocking reuptake pump in synapse
  • allows more serotonin to attach to receptors as its not being taken away by pump
  • increases level of serotonin in brain which alleviates symptoms
• 2 * of drug therapy?

  1. quick & easy to use
  2. evidence that it is effective from soomro
• * quick & easy?

  • patients can take drugs easily by swallowing a pill which is not as strenuous as other treatments such as cbt which requires patients to change thoughts
  • appropriate
  • easily accessible to anyone due to not being cog/phy demanding & is less time consuming
  • will increase likelihood of people engaging with this therapy - results in higher success rates
• * evidence that drug therapy is effective?

  • soomro (2009) reviewed studies who compared patients treated with ssri & a placebo for ocd
  • found that in all studies ssri was more effective
  • effective
  • evidence to support its success in treating patients compared to other methods
  • suggests there must be bio components to disorder as placebo effect had limited success rates compared to ssri which increase nt
• 3 X of drug therapy?

  1. possible side effects
  2. does not treat cause
  3. not long lasting treatment
• X side effects?

  • drugs have unpleasant side effects such as nausea & insomnia which will affect daily routines of patients
  • ? appropriate
  • there may be other treatments which treat ocd without causing these side effects so are more likely to be used by patients
• explain X does not treat cause?

  • drugs are used only to increase levels of serotonin
  • means without drugs cognitive symptoms such as obsessions would still be there which lead to anxiety & compulsions
  • ? effective
  • doesnt treat ocd fully only minimises symptoms
  • means when patient stops taking drug disorder will return increasing relapse rates
  • suggesting other treatments may be more appropriate
• X not long lasting treatment?

  • therapy does not guarantee a patient wont relapse as it is easy for patients using drug therapy to do so
  • patient can simply stop taking drug at any time meaning ocd resurfaces due to lower levels of serotonin
  • ? effective & appropriate
  • cannot be used as a suitable treatment for ocd over time & an alternative cognitive treatment might be more suitable
• * evidence to support genetic from billet 1998?

  • found that mz twins were more than twice as likely to develop ocd than dz twins
  • valid
  • supports idea that genetics play a role in ocd as those who are more genetically similar are more likely to share conditions than those less genetically similar
• X not 100% concordance for genetic exp?

  • suggests that ocd cannot be completely caused by genetics because if it was there would be 100% concordance rates between mz twins who share 100% genetics
  • ? valid
  • suggests that there be other factors such as environmental factors that cause ocd
  • means this explanation is too simplistic