OCD

Question 1

What is OCD?

Answer 1

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
A mental health condition where a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive activity

Question 2

What is an obsession?

What is a compulsion?

Answer 2

1) thoughts - internal components

2) behaviours - external components

Question 3

What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?

Answer 3

1) repetitive behaviours (compulsions) performed to reduce anxiety
2) avoidance of situations that might trigger anxiety

Question 4

What are emotional characteristics of OCD?

Answer 4

1) anxiety and distress
2) shame and embarrassment over excessive nature of behaviour
3) guilt
3) reduction of anxiety when compulsions are performed

Question 5

What are clinical characteristics of OCD?

Answer 5

1) recurrent, intrusive and uncontrollable thoughts (obsessions)
2) irrational and distorted beliefs
3)Obsessions recognised as being irrational excessive
4) selective attention to obsession
5) catastrophic thinking

Question 6

How is OCD explained by genetics?

Answer 6

OCD is hereditary and can be passed from parent to child through genetic inheritance

Question 7

What is a candidate gene?

Answer 7

A gene found to be responsible for illness

Question 8

How does the COMT gene explain OCD?

Answer 8

One form of the COMT gene leads to lower activity of the enzyme and therefore higher levels of dopamine (no enzyme to break it down) which leads to irrational thoughts

Question 9

How does the SERT gene explain OCD?

Answer 9

a mutation of the SERT gene leads to higher activity of this protein and therefore lower levels of serotonin which is linked to anxiety

Question 10

What is a strength of the genetic argument?

Answer 10

1) research to support it because 68% of identical twins showed concordance for OCD compared to 31% in non-identical twins suggesting a genetic element (Nestadt (2010))

Question 11

What are the limitations of the genetic argument?

Answer 11

1) it is more difficult to draw firm conclusions as identical twins are treated more similarly to non-identical twins so may have learned the behaviours from each other (doesn’t exclude environmental factors) and no 100% concordance
2) polygenic- too many candidate genes have been identified
3) aetiological heterogeneity suggests different combinations of genes may cause disorder in different people