OCD Flashcards
Characteristics of OCD - (A01)
Behavioural:
Compulsions are attractive
Compulsions are performed to reduce anxiety.
Avoid situations that trigger anxiety.
Emotional:
Anxiety and distress created by compulsions/obsessions.
Accompanying depression.
Guilt and disgust - directed at something such as dirt or oneself.
Cognitive:
Obsessive thoughts, e.g. about germs.
Cognitive coping strategies, e.g. meditating.
Insight into excessive anxiety - may include catastrophic thoughts and hyper-vigilance.
Genetic explanation of OCD - (A01 - Biological)
Candidate genes - Genes that may be involved in producing symptoms of OCD, e.g. 5HT1-D beta.
OCD is polygenic - Different combinations of up to 230 genetic variations (Taylor).
Different types of OCD - Different combinations of gene variations may cause different kinds of OCD.
Genetic explanation of OCD - Evaluation (A03 - Biological)
Research support - 68% MZ twins and 31% DZ twins have OCD (Nestadt et al.), OCD 4 times more likely if family member has it (Marini and Stebnicki).
Environmental risk factors - Over half OCD clients in one sample experienced a traumatic event, and OCD was more severe (Cromer et al.).
Evaluation extra: Animal studies - Candidate genes have been found in e.g. mice (Ahmari), but we can generalise from animal repetitive behaviour to human OCD?
Neural explanation of OCD - (A01 - Biological)
The role of serotonin - Low levels of serotonin (lower mood) linked to OCD.
Decision-making systems - Frontal lobes and parahippocampal gyrus may be malfunctioning.
Neural explanation of OCD - Evaluation (A03 - Biological)
Research support - Antidepressants that work on the serotonin system alleviate OCD, biological conditions (e.g. Parkinson’s) have similar symptoms to OCD (Nestadt et al.).
No unique neural system - The apparent serotonin-OCD link may just be co-morbidity with depression - the depression disrupts serotonin.
Evaluation extra: Correlation and causality - Dysfunction of neural systems may cause OCD but most evidence is correlational, so could be vice versa.
Biological approach to treating OCD - Drug therapy - (A01)
SSRIs - Antidepressants that increase levels of serotonin at the synapse e.g. fluoxetine.
Combining SSRIs with other treatments - SSRIs plus CBT offers best effectiveness, plus maybe other drugs.
Alternatives to SSRIs - Tricyclics e.g. clomipramine (acts on serotonin plus other systems) of SNRIs (noradrenaline).
Biological approach to treating OCD - Drug therapy - Evaluation (A03)
Evidence of effectiveness - 17 studies all showed SSRIs more effective than placebos (Soomro et al.).
Counterpoint - psychological therapies alone (e.g. CBT) are likely to be more effective than drugs for OCD.
Cost-effective and non-disruptive - relatively cheap for NHS and don’t involve time spent going to therapy sessions.
Serious side-effects - SSRIs may lead to indigestion, blurred vision and loss of sex drive, worse for clomipramine (e.g. weight gain and aggressiveness).
Evaluation extra: Biased evidence - Drug researchers sponsored by drug companies, biased results (Goldacre), but still best available evidence and psychological therapies research may be biased too.
