OCD Flashcards
Behavioural characteristics
Compulsions are repetitive.
Compulsions are performed to reduce anxiety.
Avoid situations that trigger anxiety.
Emotional characteristics
Anxiety and distress created by compulsions/obsessions
Accompanying depression
Guilt and disgust - directed at something such as dirt or oneself.
Cognitive characteristics
Obsessive thoughts, e.g. about germs.
Cognitive coping strategies, e.g. meditation.
Insight into excessive anxiety - may include catastrophic thoughts and hypervigilance.
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 evaluation
- Research support -> 68% MZ twins and 31% DZ twins have OCD (Nestadt et al.), OCD 4 times more likely if a family member has it.
- Environmental risk factor -> Over half OCD clients in one sample experienced a traumatic event, and OCD was more severe (Cromer et al.).
- Animal studies -> Candidate genes have been found in mice, but can we generalise from animal repetitive behaviour to human OCD?
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 evaluation
- Research support -> Antidepressants that work on the serotonin system alleviate OCD, biological conditions have similar symptoms to OCD.
- No unique neural system -> The apparent serotonin-OCD link may just be co-morbidity with depression - the depression disrupts serotonin.
- Correlation and causality -> Dysfunction of neural systems may cause OCD but most evidence is correlational, so could be vice versa.
