Biological treatment of OCD AO3

• +cost-effective and non disruptive. 1/2

  They're cheap and can be compared to psychological treatments; many thousands of tablets or liquid doses can be manufactured in the time it takes to conduct one session of psychological therapy. Using drugs to treat OCD is good value for public health systems and represent a good use of limited funds. SSRIs are non-disruptive to peoples lives unlike psychological therapies.
• +cost-effective and non disruptive. 2/2

  You can take drugs until your symptoms decline, meanwhile in psychological therapy, you need to spend time attending sessions. Therefore drugs are more popular among people with OCD and their doctors.
• -serious side effects. 1/2

  Although SSRIs help most people, a small minority will experience no benefits. Some people experience side effects such as indigestion, blurred vision and loss of sex drive. They are temporary but can be distressing for people and are long-lasting for a minority. For clients taking clomipramine, side-effects are more common and can be more serious.
• -serious side effects. 2/2

  1 in 100 become aggressive and experience heart-related problems and 1 in 10 experience erection problems and weight gain. This means that some people have a reduced quality of life as a result of taking drugs and may stop taking them altogether, meaning the drugs will cease to be effective.
• +evidence of effectiveness.

  Evidence shows that SSRIs reduce symptom severity and improve the quality of life for people with OCD. Soamro reviewed 17 studies that compared SSRI’s to placebos in the treatment of OCD. All studies showed significantly better outcomes for SSRI’s than for the placebo conditions. People's symptoms reduced by 70% for those taking SSRI’s. For the 30% left, most can be helped by either alternative drugs or a combination of drugs and psychological therapies. This means that drugs appear to be helpful for must people with OCD.
• +-Evidence suggests that even if drug treatments are helpful for most people they may not be the most effective. Shapihakis carried out a systematic review of studies and concluded that cognitive and behaviour (exposure) therapies were more effective than SSRI in the treatment of OCD. Therefore the drugs may not be the optimal treatment for OCD. It could also take about a month to see differences in symptoms of OCD.