AO3 - Biological Explanations of OCD

• The biological explanation of OCD can be criticised for biological reductionism. This is because it reduces complex human behaviour of OCD down to simple basic units of genes (SERT). For example, a mutation in the SERT gene. This neglects a holistic approach, which would take into account how a person's cultural context could influence OCD; research has shown that there is a higher prevalence of OCD in certain religious groups where regular cleansing before prayer is obligatory. Therefore, the biological explanation may lack validity as it doesn't allow us to understand behaviour in context.
• A strength of the biological explanation of OCD is that it uses scientific methods. This is because the theory is based on objective and empirical techniques such as gene mapping studies to identify genes such as SERT, OR brain scans to identify areas of the brain linked to OCD such as the frontal lobes and parahippocampal gyrus. Therefore, some would argue that this increases the internal validity of the biological explanation of OCD, thus raising Psychology's scientific status.
• Studying the biological explanation scientifically has led to practical applications. The principles of the theory that OCD is due to a mutation in the SERT gene and low serotonin activity levels has led to the development of drug treatments. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's) increase the amount of serotonin activity in the brain and this has been found to reduce anxiety, relieving OCD symptoms. Therefore the biological explanation of OCD is an important part of applied psychology as it helps to treat people in the real world.
• Research to support the genetic explanation of OCD was conducted by Gerald et al. They studies the link between twins and the genetic vulnerability to OCD. They found that 68% of monozygotic (identical) twins shared OCD whereas 31% of dizygotic (non-identical) twins shared OCD, showing that there is a genetic predisposition to OCD. Therefore supporting the genetic explanation as a biological theory for explaining OCD.