OCD Flashcards
What is OCD
Defined by obsessions, which are constant intrusive thoughts that cause high anxiety levels. Compulsions that are the
behavioural response, an attempt to deal with the continuous invasive thought processes.
What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD (3)
Compulsions: behaviours performed
repeatedly to reduce anxiety; however,
any anxiety reduction is only temporary.
e.g. checking behaviours (testing that
the lights/gas is off, the door is locked).
Ritual cleaning behaviours (cleaning
kitchen or hands)
Avoidance: take or resist actions to
avoid being in the presence of objects/
situations that trigger obsessions.
Social impairment: not participating in
enjoyable social activities. This social
withdrawal is often due to difficulty
leaving the house without triggering
obsessions or the need to carry out
compulsions becomes time-consuming.
What are the emotional characteristics of OCD (2)
Anxiety: an uncomfortably high and
persistent state of arousal, making it
difficult to relax. Anxiety results from
the obsession, the constant worst-case-
scenario thinking that defines OCD.
Depression: A consistent and long-
lasting sense of sadness. The result of
being unable to control the anxiety-
causing thoughts and the OCD
symptoms taking over the sufferer’s
life, leading to issues like social
withdrawal.
What are the cognitive characteritsics of
phobias (2)
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus:
If a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it. Keeping our attention of something really dangerous is a good thing it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but this is not so useful when the fear is irrational.
Irrational thoughts (fears): Negative and irrational mental processes that include an exaggerated belief in the harm the phobic object could cause them.
Reduced cognitive capacity: People
with a phobia cannot concentrate on
day-to-day activities such as work due
to the excessive attentional focus on
the phobic objects and constant
concerns about potentiall danger they
feel they are in.
What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD (3)
Obsessions: intrusive, irrational and
recurrent thoughts that tend to be unpleasant catastrophic thoughts about potential dangers.
Hypervigilance: A permanent state of
alertness where the sufferer is looking for
the source of their obsessive thoughts; for
example, someone with a contamination
obsession looks at each surface they need
to touch, thinking about the potential
threat of exposure to germs.
Selective attention (attentional
bias): This means the individual with OCD
is so focused on the objects connected to
the obsession they cannot focus on other
things in their environment or
concentrate on conversations.
Define trichotillomania
Compulsive hair pulling
Define hoarding disorder
The compulsive gathering of possessions and the inability to part with anything, regardless of its value
Excoriation disorder
Compulsive skin picking
