OCD

• What is OCD?

  A condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive behaviour
• What are the DSM-5 categories of OCD?

  OCD

  • characterised by obsessions and or compulsions

  Trichotillomania

  • compulsive hair pulling

  Hoarding disorder

  • the compulsive gathering of pocessions and the inability to part with anything, regardless of its value

  Excoriation disorder

  • compulsive skin picking
• What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?

  Compulsions

  • they’re repetitive
  • they reduce anciety

  avoidance

  • they attempt to reduce anxiety by staying away from the situations that trigger it
• What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?

  Anxiety and distress

  • obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening and the anxiety that hoes with these can be overwhelming
  • urge to repeat a behaviour creates anxiety

  Accompanying depression

  • Often accompanied by depression

  Guilt and disgust

  • sometimes involves other negative emotions like irrational guilt
• What are cognitive characteristics of OCD?

  Obsessive thoughts

  • thoughts that recur over and over again

  cognitive coping strategies

  • doing something to stop their obsessive thoughts

  Insight into excessive activity

  • people with OCD are aware their obsessions ad compulsions aren’t rational
• People with OCD experience catastrophic thoughts about the worst case scenarios that might result if their anxieties were justified
• People with OCD tend to be hyper-vigilant

  • Maintain constant alertness and keep attention focused on potential hazards
• What percentage of people with OCD have obsessive thoughts?

  90%
• How many people with OCD show compulsive behaviour alone?

  10%

  • no obsessions just a general sense of irrational anxiety