Download Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder
NUR 114
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
(2-3%) of population)
 Obsessive-compulsive disorder:
• A mental disorder characterized by obsessions and
compulsions.
 Obsession:
• An unwanted thought or idea with which a person is
preoccupied.
• e.g., “I left the doors unlocked!”
 Compulsion:
• The feeling that one is obliged to perform a behavior,
even if one prefers not to do so.
• Checking behaviors (keep checking the doors)
 Examples of obsessions:
 Concern for order and constancy
 Cleanliness (body or living space)
 Forbidden sexual thoughts
 Examples of compulsions:
 Hand washing
 Checking
 Collecting
 Repeating behaviors (in and out of a door)
 Arranging things
 Cleaning
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
 Possible Causes:
 Genetic Origin:
• Evidence is beginning to accumulate suggesting
that OCD might have a genetic origin. Appears
with Tourette’s syndrome
 Brain Damage (from trauma)
• Basal ganglia, cingulate, frontal cortex
 Treatment
 Serotonin's involvement in impulse control via
orbitofrontal cortex and basil ganglia (both receive
SE input)
• SSRIs are most effective
• Serotonin antagonists worsen symptoms
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
 Possible Causes:
 Tourette’s syndrome:
• A neurological disorder characterized by tics and
involuntary vocalizations and sometimes by
compulsive uttering of obscenities and repetition
of the utterances of others.
• Treatment with antipsychotics (dopamine
antagonists, D2)
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
 Possible Causes:
 Cingulotomy:
• The surgical destruction of the cingulum bundle,
which connects the prefrontal cortex with the
limbic system; helps to reduce intense anxiety
and the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive
disorder.
• Only used on patients who are unresponsive to
drug treatment.