OCD

• Characterising OCD

  Behavioural -> compulsions / avoidance.

  Emotional -> anxiety / guilt / disgust.

  Cognitive -> obsessions / hyper vigilance / catastrophic thinking / awareness of their irrationality.
• Explaining OCD

  Genetic Explanation -> OCD is a consequence of the SERT and COMT gene being mutated. A mutated SERT gene leads to an increased reuptake of serotonin in the synapses. A mutated COMT gene leads to decreased levels of dopamine in the synapse.

  Neural Explanation -> Low serotonin causes problems with mood regulation and increased anxiety. High dopamine causes problems with attention regulation and hyper vigilance. An overactive PFC can cause an increase in primitive instincts which explains the compulsions and the extreme attention to threats.
• Evaluation

  Nestadt et al found that concordance rates for OCD for MZ twins were 60%, whereas, concordance rates for DZ twins were 30%.

  RWA -> led to successful treatments of SSRIs as a treatment of OCD. Soomro et al found that SSRIs were better than placebo in 17 clinical trials providing evidence for the role of serotonin in OCD.

  Biological explanations ignore influences on OCD like trauma.
• Treating OCD

  Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors are most commonly used for OCD. They prevent the excess reuptake of serotonin by the presynaptic neuron. Tricyclics are used by patients who do not respond to SSRIs. They increase serotonin levels.

  Evaluation

  Research support -> Soomro et al

  Drug therapy is cost effective and not disruptive to an individuals life.

  Drug therapy does have side effects and can cause addiction. Also, drugs do not tackle the cause of OCD.