OCD

• OCD: A condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive behaviour
• What does OCD stand for?

  Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Behavioural: How we act
• Emotional: How we feel
• Cognitive: How we think
• What is a compulsion?

  A behaviour
• What is an obsession?

  A cognition
• What are the four disorders, related to OCD, that the DSM recognises?

  OCD, trichotillomania, hoarding disorder, excoriation disorder
• What is trichotillomania?

  Compulsive hair-pulling
• What it hoarding disorder?

  The compulsive gathering of possessions and the inability to part with anything
• What is excoriation disorder?

  Compulsive skin-picking
• What is OCD?

  Characterised by either obsessions and/or compulsions. Most people with a diagnosis have both
• The behavioural element of OCD is compulsive behaviour
• What are the two elements to compulsive behaviour (behavioural characteristics)?

  Compulsions are repetitive, compulsions reduce anxiety
• What might the behaviour of people with OCD also be characterised by other than compulsions (behavioural characteristic)?

  Avoidance
• Compulsions are repetitive

  People with OCD feel compelled to repeat a behaviour
• Compulsions reduce anxiety

  Around 10% of people with OCD show compulsive behaviour alone - they have no obsessions, just a sense of irrational anxiety. For many, compulsive behaviours are performed in an attempt to manage the anxiety produced by obsessions
• Avoidance

  People with OCD try to manage their OCD by avoiding situations that trigger anxiety
• What are the three emotional characteristics of OCD?

  Anxiety and distress, accompanying depression, guilt and disgust
• Anxiety and distress

  OCD is an unpleasant emotional experience because of the anxiety that accompanies obsessions and compulsions. Obsessive thoughts are unpleasant, and the anxiety that goes with these can be overwhelming. A compulsion creates anxiety
• Guilt and disgust

  OCD can involve other negative feelings such as irrational guilt or disgust which can be aimed at something external or the self
• People with OCD are plagued with obsessive thoughts but they adopt cognitive strategies to deal with these
• What are the three cognitive characteristics of OCD?

  Obsessive thoughts, cognitive coping strategies, insight into excessive anxiety
• Obsessive thoughts

  Obsessive thoughts are the major cognitive feature of 90% of people with OCD. These are always unpleasant
• Cognitive coping strategies

  May help manage anxiety but can make the person appear abnormal and distract them from everyday tasks
• Insight into excessive anxiety

  People with OCD are aware their obsessions and compulsions aren't rational, despite this, they experience catastrophic thoughts about the worst case scenarios that might result if their anxieties were justified. They also tend to be hypervigilant