OCD Flashcards
name symtom dimensions of OCD.
- contamination obsessions and decontamination rituals
- obsessions about being responsible for harm and checking rituals
- obsessions and rituals related to symmetry and completeness
- unacceptable obsessional thoughts and mental neutralising rituals.
define OCD.
anxiety evoking intrusive thoughts, images or urges and repetitive behaviours aimed at reducing the discomfort.
define the DSM-5 diagnosis of OCD.
- person experiences obsessions or compulsions that:
- cause distress
- are time consuming
- interfere with daily life
- affects 1-2% of population
define intrusive thoughts
- involuntary
- unpleasant content
- ego-dystonic
- are everywhere (doesn’t mean you have OCD)
define obsessions.
recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses or images that can be/ are intrusive and inappropriate and that cause anxiety or distress.
- attempts to ignore or suppress thoughts, impulses or images to neutralise them
- recognises the obsessions are a product of their own mind
intrusive thoughts are not…
- worry thoughts
- depressive rumination
- preoccupation
state types of intrusive thoughts.
- verbal
- images
- urges
give examples of common intrusive thoughts
- hitting animals or people with car
- insulting strangers
- fatal disease from strangers
define compulsions.
- repetitive overt behaviours or covert mental behaviour that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.
what is the point of compulsions?
aimed at preventing intrusive thoughts from happening or preventing/ reducing distress, however these behaviours are often not realistic at neutralising ‘distress’
give an example of obsession and compulsions.
obsession - intrusive thoughts hands are contaminated with germs
compulsion - frequent and prolonged hand washing that causes distress
state behavioural theories of OCD.
- classical conditioning (little Albert)
= if CS is repeatedly presented without US the CR will gradually disappear (extinction) - operant conditioning
= person repeatedly checks front door is locked until they no longer feel fear (negative reinforcement).
describe the two-factor theory.
- object or event is classically conditioned to elicit fear
- person avoids object or event and/or develops behaviours to reduce fear
3, avoidance and repeated behaviours are negatively reinforced, making re-occurence more likely and preventing extinction or behaviour.
describe exposure therapy of behavioural therapy.
associated with classical conditioning, exposure to feared stimulus should lead to habituation as anxiety gradually falls over repeated exposure session.
describe response prevention of behavioural therapy.
response prevention of all rituals and compulsions should weaken negative reinforcement of rituals and compulsions, making re-occurence less likely .
give evidence for ERP therapy.
applying both components of behavioural therapy (ERP) significantly reduces OC compared to just applying one component.
state exposure-based therapies.
emotional processing theory
inhibitory learning theory
what do EPT and ILT have in common?
a network linking obsessional thoughts, triggers, feared consequences , and the fear itself stored in memory along with compulsive behaviour urges.
network is activated when any part is triggered, activation strengthens pathways.
outline EPT.
- repeated activation means this network is strengthened by memory.
- avoidance of triggers and compulsive behaviours leads to pathways being strengthened
- prolonged exposure with response prevention to triggers and intrusive thoughts leads to habitation and new non-fear information about triggers and intrusive thoughts become integrated with old memory.
- old fear network replaced with new fear network.
give evidence for EPT.
- degree of habituation is generally not correlated with exposure treatment outcomes
- suggest habituation may not be primary mechanisms through which exposure theories have their effect
- relapse is common
outline ILT.
- exposure-based learning doesn’t result in modification of the existing fear memory about stimulus and response, rather, the original fear information is retained in memory and easily activated.
- new non-fear information is stored as a separate memory
- new memory is thought to be context-dependant
- old and new (non-fear) memories continue to be activated, new non-fear memory completes for retrieval.
give evidence for ILT.
- isn’t a string association between degree of habituation and exposure-based theory outcomes.
- ERP appears to be more effective when tasks are performed in a variety of contexts.
- relapse rates following exposure-based therapy are high.
state limitations to behaviour therapy.
- not well tolerated
- at least 16% of people refuse ERP
- around 16% drop-out ] don’t fully engage in ERP tasks
what percentage of engagement in ERP is needed in order to have effective outcomes?
at least 75%
