OCD

• OCD behavioural characteristics

  -repetitive compulsions

  -compulsions reduce anxiety

  -avoidance,avoiding anxiety triggering situations
• OCD emotional characteristics

  -anxiety and distress

  -accompanying depression

  -guilt and disgust,over minor moral issues
• OCD emotional characteristics

  -obsessive thoughts

  -cognitive coping strategies,reduce anxiety but may appear abnormal

  -insight into excessive anxiety,they’re aware their compulsions aren’t rational
• biological approach to OCD

  genetic explanation

  -the more candidate genes you have the more likely you are to have OCD

  -SERT gene when faulty causes decreased seratonin

  -COMT gene is associated with increased levels of dopamine

  -OCD is polygenic meaning not one gene is responsible for OCD

  -OCD may be aetiologically heterogeneous meaning the origin of OCD has different causes
• biological approach to OCD

  neurochemical imbalance

  -reduced levels of seratonin, meaning there a loss of control for not completing tasks repetitively

  -increased levels of dopamine,associated with compulsive behaviours
• biological approach to OCD

  neuroanatomical abnormality

  brain structure

  -the worry circuit

  the oribitofrontal cortex sends worry signals about potential worries,the caudate nucleus (located in the basal ganglia)with reduced function means the worry cannot be suppresse,the thalamus then confirms the worry and signifies the orbital frontal cortex
• biological approach to treating OCD

  balancing the imbalance of neurotransmitters

  Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

  -slows down or stops the reuptaking of seratonin at the synapse

  -the seratonin stays in the synapse for longer,having a greate effect

  -Prozac(fluoxetine) is an example of an SSRI

  -SSRIs cause symptoms such as reduced anxiety,arousal,blood pressure and heart rate

  SSRIs alternatives

  -tricyclics, increase seratonin levels but have more severe side effects

  -SNRIs,increase seratonin and noradrenaline

  -antipsychotic drugs,lower dopamine levels