OCD (pack 3) Flashcards
What sort of disorder is OCD?
anxiety disorder
What is OCD characterised by?
- Obsessions
- compulsions
what are obsessions?
persistent, irrational, unwanted thoughts
what are some common obsessions?
fear of contamination, fear of not doing an act that could result in harm, afraid of hurting themselves or others
what are compulsions?
the tasks that people do to relieve themselves of the obsessions
What are some common compulsions?
cleaning and washing, ordering and balancing, repeated checking behaviours.
What is another disorder that some OCD patients may have as well?
tic disorder
What are the four stages of the OCD cycle?
- Obsession
- Anxiety
- compulsion
- Relief
What are the four features of OCD?
- Onset
- prevalence
- Prognosis
- risk factors
What is onset?
When symptoms of OCD begin
What is the age of onset for OCD?
late teens early twenties
what is a statistic for onset in men?
25% suffer before age of 10
what does prevalence mean?
how often or widespread it occurs
what is the prevalence rate?
between 1.1 and 1.8 percent of the population
Which gender is OCD more prevalent in adulthood?
females
what does prognosis mean?
likely course of the disorder
within prognosis, what percentage of people with OCD experience a chronic and life long course?
70%
Who estimates that 2% of the population world wide has OCD?
Sasson et al (1994)
What are risk-factors?
factors that increase the risk of developing or triggering OCD
what are some examples of risk factors?
family history
stressful life events
What are the 5 diagnostic criteria for OCD listed by the DSM 5
- obsessions cannot be ignored or suppressed and cause anxiety
- the obsessions/compulsions are time consuming
- The symptoms cannot be explained by substance use or another disorder
- the clinician must decide if the patient has a fair insight and believes obsessions are untrue or poor insight and does not realise they are untrue
- find out if the individual has a current or past history of a tic disorder as this can affect severity
What is the biological explanation for OCD?
that the neuro-circuitry in the brain is not working
What is the function of the thalamus?
primitive checking and cleaning behaviours, if overacts, it triggers compulsion
What is the function of the orbitofrontal cortex?
alerts the brain to potential worries in the environment, if overactive the person would feel anxiety
What is the function of the cingulate gyrus?
connects the orbitofrontal cortex to the thalamus
what is the function of the basal ganglia nuclei
One of the jobs is to inhibit the thalamus, if NOT working, can’t inhibit, therefore thalamus becomes overactive and causes compulsions
what are the two components of the basal ganglia?
- The globus pallidus
- caudate nucleus
what is the function of the globus pallidus?
acts as a breaking system for the thalamus