Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Flashcards
What is an obsession?
these are unwanted, repetitive thoughts or urges that are often intrusive and associated with anxiety
What are Compulsions?
repetitive behaviours (eg: hand washing) or mental acts (eg: repeating words in your head) that are used to respond to obsessions
WHat is the criteria for OCD?
1) Obsessions and compulsions must take up more than 1hr per day
2) must result in significant distress or impairment in important areas of functioning eg: family, social, occupational
Give examples of obsessions and compulsions
1) Symmetry- Obsession: Always wanting things to be symmetrical/ aligned
Compulsion: Putting things in a certain way
2) Cleaning Contamination-
obsession: Getting you become fearful of becoming contaminated by germs
Compulsion: Avoiding touching things to prevent contamination or Excessive hand washing
what are the measures for OCD?
Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI)
Yale-Brown Obsessie Compulsive Scale
Give features of the MOCI
1) 30- item questionnaire
2) scored true or false
3) Scores range between 0 and 30
4) Example items:
a) I frecuently have to check things (gas, water taps, doors, etc) several times (checking)
b) I am not unduly concerned with germs and diseases (Washing)
Give features of the Y-BOCS
1) Semi-structured interview
2) checks obsessions an compulsions on a 10- point severity scale
3) scores range from 0(no symptoms) to 40 severe symptoms(
4) scores above 16 are considered in the clinical range for OCD
State the psychological explanations of OCD
1) Cogntive- Thinking errors
2) behavioural- operant conditioning
3) Psychodynamic
Explain the Biochemicl explanation of OCD
Dopamine: Those with OCD tend to have excess levels of dopamine, responsible for motivation and pleasure. Dopamine actually creates the anticipation for reward. If there is greater anticipation for reward, then more rewards can be received
Oxytocin: Commonly referred to as the love hormone as it enhances trust and attachment, and has been shown to increase distrust and fear of certain stimuli, which explains behaviours such as constantly washing your hands bc of your obsession with getting rid of germs
Describe the behavioural explanation of OCD
Eg: Hand washing is seen as a negative reinforcer as it has relieved something unpleasant (the anxiety inducing thoughts about the germs on your hand). And as a positive reinforcer as the person feels rewarded, knowing they now have clean hands, and the germs can no longer harm them, eventhough it is temporary
Explan the thinking errors
- With OCD consisting of cognitive obsessions and behavioural compulsions, this explanation considers that obsessive thinking is based on faulty reasoning.
Eg: we are covered with harmful germs that can kill us. Compulsive behaviours are seen as the outcome of such thinking, and are the attempts to get rid of the unwanted thoughts and the anxiety they create
Describe the pschodynamic explanation of OCD
It claims that the symptoms of OCD appear as a result of internal conflict between the id and the ego. Arising in the anal stage of psychosexual development (toilet training)
When parents wish to control when and how the child defecates or urinated, the child may seek to regain control by soiling themselves (anally expulsive), or retain faeces or urine (anally retentive) out of fear of harsh responses from their parents, making them become fixated at the stage, which may lead to compulsive behaviours such as constant and excessive cleaning or tidying later in their lives
