Lifetime Prevalence Of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Research Articles

A closer look to neural pathways and psychopharmacology of obsessive compulsive disorder.

The intricate neural pathways involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affect areas of our brain that control executive functioning, organization, and planning. OCD is a chronic condition that can be debilitating, afflicting millions of people worldwide. The lifetime prevalence of OCD in the US is 2.3%. OCD is predominantly characterized by obsessions consisting of intrusive and unwanted thoughts, often with impulses that are strongly associated with anxiety. Compulsions with OCD encompass repetitive behaviors or mental acts to satisfy their afflicted obsessions or impulses. While these factors can be unique to each individual, it has been widely established that the etiology of OCD is complex as it relates to neuronal pathways, psychopharmacology, and brain chemistry involved and warrants further exploration.

Perceived Choice as a Mediating Factor Between Self-Awareness and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Among Emerging Adults

seems to me that at the bottom each person is asking, 'Who am I, really? How can I get in touch with this real self, underlying all my surface behaviour? How can I become myself?'- Rogers (1995)Lifetime prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder in India is 0.6% (Reddy, Rao, & Khanna, 2010). The mean age of onset is about 20 years, although men have slightly earlier mean age of onset about 19 years than women about 22 years. Generally, the symptoms have an onset prior to age 25 in about two thirds of affected people (Sadock & Sadock, 2007). Since the mean age of onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder is seen to occur in emerging adulthood, this group was decided to be part of this study so that if the result is found to be significant, it can help in preventing the disorder during the initial stage itself. Emerging adulthood is defined as a period of development bridging adolescence and young adulthood, during which young people are no longer adolescents but have not yet attained full adult status with focus on ages 18-25 ( Arnett, 2000).Slight amounts of obsessional traits put in quality of worth and stability to personality and prove as important assets, but if they exist in evident degree, they are by and large hampering, cause high level of mental inertia, indecisiveness, clinical decompensation and liability to clinical syndromes like obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, depression, hypochondriasis and depersonalization (Avasthi & Kumar, 2004). Possibly, when the affected individual mistakenly assigns immense personal importance to the intrusive thoughts that almost everyone encounters from time to time, the obsessions develop (De Silva & Rachman, 2009). Meta-cognitive beliefs relating to the need to control thoughts, thought action fusion as well as negative beliefs regarding cognitive competence are known to be reliable predictors of obsessive-compulsive disorder (Gilliam, Wells, & Cartwright-Hatton,2004).Patients with anxiety disorders have been found to have low emotional intelligence, particularly since they have difficulties in the ability to comprehend emotions and regulating them; and higher level of anxiety is related to the lack of these abilities (Lizeretti, Costa, & Gimeno-Bayon, 2014). People with high emotional intelligence are inclined to have more optimistic frame of mind; they are more capable to level out their mood following unpleasant emotions and,in addition, haveless anxiety, depression as well as stress (Femandez-Berroca & Extremera, 2006; Salovey et. al., 2002).Self-awareness, component of emotional intelligence (Boyatzis, Goleman, & Rhee, 2000), is associated with good clinical outcome in case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (Himleet al., 2006; Storch et al., 2008).Self-awareness means being more aware of one's feelings and one's sense of self (Sheldon & Deci, 1996).According to Gestalt therapy, awareness is vital concept. It gives human being an opportunity to change to more enhancing ways of being. Through the awareness and experience of different options of being, humans gain the freedom of choice. In such way change happens naturally. Awareness is therefore the goal and path of therapy (Calitz, 2009). People with increased self-awareness are more likely to accept themselves and the responsibilities resulting from their choices as well as actions (Lindsay, 1978). This points to the next study variable of in interest, i.e., 'perceived choice' which means feeling sense of choice with respect to their behavior (Sheldon & Deci, 1996).There seems to be knowledge gap in the current literature focusing on self-awareness and role of perceived choice in reducing obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Therefore, it was hypothesized that Perceived Choice acts as mediating factor between Self-Awareness and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms among Emerging Adults. If the results of this study are found to be significant, perceived choice can be used as yardstick to check for self-awareness in dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder. …

Religious involvement and obsessive compulsive disorder among African Americans and Black Caribbeans

Prior research is equivocal concerning the relationships between religious involvement and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The literature indicates limited evidence of denomination differences in prevalence of OCD whereas findings regarding OCD and degree of religiosity are equivocal. This study builds on prior research by examining OCD in relation to diverse measures of religious involvement within the National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African American and Black Caribbean adults.Bivariate and multivariate analyses (logistic regression) examine the relationship between lifetime prevalence of OCD and religious denomination, service attendance, non-organizational religiosity (e.g., prayer, religious media) subjective religiosity, and religious coping. Frequent religious service attendance was negatively associated with OCD, whereas Catholic affiliation (as compared to Baptist) and religious coping (prayer when dealing with stressful situations) were both positively associated with OCD. With regard to demographic factors, persons of older age and higher education levels were significantly less likely to have OCD.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Issues Pertinent to Women

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric condition first described 100 years ago [1]. The pathognomic features of the disorder are persistent, intrusive, senseless thoughts and impulses (obsessions) and repetitive, intentional behaviors (compulsions). Patients with the disorder recognize that their thoughts and behaviors are excessive and unreasonable and they struggle to resist them. The lifetime prevalence of OCD is estimated to be 1–3%, based on population-based surveys conducted in many communities both nationally and internationally [2,3]. Although the disorder affects individuals of all ages, the period of greatest risk is from childhood to early adulthood [4,5]. Patients experience a chronic or episodic course with exacerbations that can substantially impair social, occupational and academic functioning; according to the WHO, OCD is among the ten most disabling medical conditions worldwide [6]. Moreover, the burden placed on, and stresses experienced by, family members are considerable [7]. Medications and behavior therapy can control symptoms, but the course is chronic or relapsing in most cases, and cure is rare. The causes for OCD are unknown. The strongest known risk factor is genetics, as demonstrated by both family and twin studies [8–12]. Heritability has been estimated from these studies to be in the order of 80%. A neuroimmunologic hypothesis is under study, which posits that an acute syndrome may emerge in children as a poststreptococcal infection event (pediatric autoimmune veuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection, PANDAS) [13]. There is strong evidence that the pathophysiology involves the cortico-striato pallido-thalamic circuitry [14,15], based on a considerable body of neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience research in this area [16]. Although the phenomenological form of obsessions and compulsions are particularly stereotypic, there is considerable diversity in their content, ranging from contamination, sexual, religious and aggressive concerns through compulsive hoarding, checking, ordering and counting. There have been inconsistent reports that women are more affected by some more than other symptoms. While all symptoms are extremely bothersome, some are more unique to women. Examples from my practice, among many more, include: fears that everyday physical contact with one’s child may (irrationally) be construed as sexually abusive, concerns that inadvertently one may have poisoned one’s child; and that one will overlook serious maladies among the common complaints of one’s child.

Family burden, quality of life and disability in obsessive compulsive disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder that often tends to run a chronic course. The lifetime prevalence of OCD is around 1-3%, which is twice as prevalent as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. To asses the family burden, quality of life (QoL) and disability in patients suffering from at least moderately ill OCD and then to compare them with schizophrenia patients of comparable severity. We recruited 70 consecutive subjects (OCD=35, schizophrenia=35) who met study criteria between March 2005 and March 2006 from the psychiatric services of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India. The severity of illness was rated using the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S). Instruments used in the current study were the Family Burden Schedule, the World Health Organization (WHO) QoL (Bref) and the WHO - Disability Assessment Schedule (DAS). The Fisher's exact test/chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables and the independent sample t test was used to analyze continuous variables. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the groups after controlling for potential confounding variables. Pearson's correlation was used for correlation analysis. Overall family burden, financial burden and disruption of family routines were significantly higher in schizophrenia patients compared to OCD although the groups did not differ with respect to other domains of family burden. On the WHO QoL, OCD patients were comparable to schizophrenia patients with respect to the psychological and social domains. On the WHO - DAS, both the groups were similar in all the domains except getting around. Severe OCD is associated with significant disability, poor QoL and high family burden, often comparable to schizophrenia. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase the sensitivity among healthcare professionals to recognize and treat OCD.

Parental psychopathology in child and adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder

To identify the lifetime prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other psychiatric diagnoses in parents of OCD pediatric patients as well as the frequency of onset of psychiatric disorders in the 6 months prior to evaluation. Parents (n = 63) of 32 children and adolescents (20 males and 12 females; mean age of 13.3 +/- 2.4) with OCD and parents of (n = 63) 32 age and sex-matched controls with no psychiatric diagnosis were examined. The semi-structured SCID-I was used to identify axis I psychiatric disorders and SCID-II to evaluate personality disorders. Mothers of patients had significantly more psychiatric diagnoses than control mothers (P = 0.001). Only parents of patients had diagnosis of OCD (P = 0.01) and psychiatric diagnosis (Adjustment Disorders, Major Depression, Anxiety Disorders) with onset during the 6 months prior to evaluation (P = 0.001). The duration of disease in children appeared to be related to development of morbidity in parents (P = 0.04). Parents of patients also showed a higher incidence of personality disorders (P = 0.01), in particular avoidant (6 versus 1 parents, P < 0.055) and obsessive-compulsive (9 versus 2 parents, P = 0.016) personality disorders. The findings suggest that there may be an excess of psychopathology in parents of children with OCD as compared to parents of pediatric and non-psychiatric patients. Adjustment disorders with depressive and anxious symptoms are significantly more frequent in mothers of OCD children after the onset of the disease.

The genetic studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder and its future directions.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by recurrent and persistent thoughts (obsessions), and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions). In Korea, an epidemiological study reported that the lifetime prevalence of OCD in the population was greater than two percent. The exact cause of OCD is still unknown. Evidence from familial, twin and segregation studies supports the role of a genetic component in the etiology of OCD. In addition, there is growing evidence that OCD has a specific neurochemical and neuroanatomical basis. According to this evidence, researchers have selected various candidate genes which have been implicated in the neurophysiology of OCD, and differences of allelic variants in OCD patients and controls have been analyzed. In this review we will introduce the results of previous genetic studies of OCD which have been performed in other populations, including twin studies, family studies, segregation analyses, linkage analyses, and association studies. In addition to these studies, we will present the results of our genetic studies of OCD performed in Korea.

A family study of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are as yet unknown. Evidence of familial aggregation is one approach for investigating the role of genetics in the etiology of this condition. The current study was conducted to determine ifOCD is familial and to investigate possible familial subtypes. Eighty case probands were identified in 5 specialty OCD clinics and 73 community control probands were identified by random-digit dialing. These probands and their first-degree relatives (343 case and 300 control relatives) were blinded to group and evaluated by psychiatrists and doctoral-level clinical psychologists using semistructured instruments. Final diagnoses were assigned by a blinded-consensus procedure. The results were analyzed using logistic regression by the method of generalized estimating equations. The lifetime prevalence of OCD was significantly higher in case compared with control relatives (11.7% vs 2.7%) (P<.001). Case relatives had higher rates of both obsessions and compulsions; however, this finding is more robust for obsessions. Age at onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the case proband was strongly related to familiality (odds ratio, 0.92; confidence interval, 0.85-0.99) (P = .05); no case of OCD symptoms was detected in the relatives of probands whose age at onset of symptoms was 18 years or older. Probands with tics or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder were not more likely to have relatives with OCD than those without these features. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a familial disorder. Obsessions are more specific to the phenotype than are compulsions. Age at onset of OCD is valuable in characterizing a familial subtype.

Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has recently undergone a dramatic change in status. Once regarded as a rare example of the neuroses, it now occupies a central position in contemporary psychiatry. The reasons for this renaissance in interest are relatively easy to describe. Firstly, results from the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) survey indicated that the lifetime prevalence of OCD was 2.5% (1 in 40 people) and the 6-month point prevalence was 1.5%, making it the fourth most common psychiatric disorder in the US (Myers et al, 1984; Robins et al, 1984; Karno et al, 1988). If these figures are applicable to the UK, there may be up to 1 million sufferers. Secondly, the therapeutic efficacy of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and consistent findings from a number of neuroimaging investigations have stimulated interest in understanding the biological substrates of OCD. Finally, the traditional behavioural account of OCD has been elaborated, with greater emphasis given to cognition and cognitive processes; this revised anatomy of obsessions has, predictably, stimulated the development of specific cognitive therapy strategies.

High rates of comorbid OCD in patients with bulimia nervosa

Abstract There have been several suggestions in the literature that anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be related. To assess in a controlled fashion the incidence and lifetime prevalence of OCD in patients with bulimia nervosa, we administered portions of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) to 25 females with a primary diagnosis of bulimia nervosa. We also assessed current obsessive-compulsive symptomatology using the YBOCS, Symptom Checklist 90-R, and the Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory. After excluding core bulimic symptoms, the lifetime prevalence of OCD was 32%; an additional 24% met Subthreshold criteria for OCD at some point in their lives. Core anorexia/bulimia nervosa symptoms to ensure that bulimic symptoms would not create a false-positive for OCD. Again, After excluding core bulimic symptoms, the mean score on the YBOCS score on the YBOCS obsessions subscale was 12.0 ± 11.6 and on the compulsions subscale was 5.04 ± 4.75....