Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Flashcards
What are the main behavioural characteristics of OCD?
Compulsions (repetitive and intrusive thoughts focussed on the stimulus which reduce anxiety through being a method acting on the thoughts) and avoidance behaviour
How is avoidance behaviour reinforced?
It’s negatively reinforced because an individual who avoids the specific stimulus will avoid the anxiety associated with having to carry out compulsive behaviours and suffer from obsessive thoughts
What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?
Guilt and disgust, depression (as thoughts and feelings affect their lives and relationships) and anxiety (associated with the acknowledgment that the thoughts are irrational, but despair that they always. lead to the compulsive behaviours
What are the cognitive characteristics?
Patients acknowledgments that their anxiety is irrational, the development of cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions and obsessive thoughts
