Evaluation

• Evidence of effectiveness

  One strength of drug treatment for OCD is good evidence for its effectiveness:

  • Soomro et al. reviewed 17 placebo studies and found that all studies showed significantly better outcomes for SSRIs than for placebo conditions
  • Typically symptoms reduce for around 70% of people taking SSRIs - for the remaining 30%, most can be helped by either alternative drugs or combinations of drugs and psychotherapy
  • Therefore, drugs appear to be helpful for most people with OCD
• Counterpoint to evidence of effectiveness

  There is evidence to suggest that drug treatments may not be the most effective available:

  • Skapinakis et al. carried out a systematic review of outcome studies and found that both cognitive and behavioural therapies were more effective than SSRIs in the treatment of OCD
  • Therefore, drugs may not be the optimum treatment for OCD
• Cost-effective and non-disruptive

  One strength of drugs is that they are cost-effective and non-disruptive to people's lives:

  • They are cheap compared to psychological treatments because thousands of tablets can be manufactured in the time it takes to conduct one session of therapy
  • It is therefore good value for the NHS
  • Therefore, drugs are popular with many people with OCD and their doctors
• Serious side-effects


  One limitation of drug treatments for OCD is that drugs can have potentially serious side-effects:

  • A small minority will get no benefit
  • Some experience side-effects such as indigestion, blurred vision and loss of libido
  • For those taking clomipramine, side-effects are more common and can be more serious - more than 1 in 10 people experience erection problems and weight gain
  • Therefore, some people have a reduced quality of life as a result of taking drugs and may stop taking them altogether, meaning the drugs cease to be effective