OCD during COVID-19: Understanding clinical and non-clinical anxiety in the community

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a great deal of anxiety for many individuals. Several papers have noted that individuals with OCD may be particularly negatively impacted by COVID-19, and that the threat of COVID-19 may impact treatment (Banerjee, 2020; Jassi et al., 2020; Sheu et al., 2020). The study presented herein examined OCD-related and COVID-related intrusions in a non-patient sample. Individuals with elevated OCD symptoms reported having both OCD and COVID intrusions at a similar frequency. Further, OCD symptom severity was significantly correlated with the frequency of COVID related intrusions and the amount of distress they caused. However, distress from COVID related intrusions was not significantly correlated with OCD symptom severity. These results shed light on the similarities between reactions to objectively elevated threat and the perceptions of elevated threat experienced in OCD.