OCD Flashcards

1
Q

name symtom dimensions of OCD.

A
  • 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.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

define OCD.

A

anxiety evoking intrusive thoughts, images or urges and repetitive behaviours aimed at reducing the discomfort.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

define the DSM-5 diagnosis of OCD.

A
  • person experiences obsessions or compulsions that:
  • cause distress
  • are time consuming
  • interfere with daily life
  • affects 1-2% of population
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

define intrusive thoughts

A
  • involuntary
  • unpleasant content
  • ego-dystonic
  • are everywhere (doesn’t mean you have OCD)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

define obsessions.

A

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
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

intrusive thoughts are not…

A
  • worry thoughts
  • depressive rumination
  • preoccupation
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

state types of intrusive thoughts.

A
  • verbal
  • images
  • urges
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

give examples of common intrusive thoughts

A
  • hitting animals or people with car
  • insulting strangers
  • fatal disease from strangers
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

define compulsions.

A
  • 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.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

what is the point of compulsions?

A

aimed at preventing intrusive thoughts from happening or preventing/ reducing distress, however these behaviours are often not realistic at neutralising ‘distress’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

give an example of obsession and compulsions.

A

obsession - intrusive thoughts hands are contaminated with germs
compulsion - frequent and prolonged hand washing that causes distress

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

state behavioural theories of OCD.

A
  • 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).
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

describe the two-factor theory.

A
  1. object or event is classically conditioned to elicit fear
  2. 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.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

describe exposure therapy of behavioural therapy.

A

associated with classical conditioning, exposure to feared stimulus should lead to habituation as anxiety gradually falls over repeated exposure session.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

describe response prevention of behavioural therapy.

A

response prevention of all rituals and compulsions should weaken negative reinforcement of rituals and compulsions, making re-occurence less likely .

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

give evidence for ERP therapy.

A

applying both components of behavioural therapy (ERP) significantly reduces OC compared to just applying one component.

17
Q

state exposure-based therapies.

A

emotional processing theory

inhibitory learning theory

18
Q

what do EPT and ILT have in common?

A

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.

19
Q

outline EPT.

A
  • 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.
20
Q

give evidence for EPT.

A
  • 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
21
Q

outline ILT.

A
  • 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.
22
Q

give evidence for ILT.

A
  • 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.
23
Q

state limitations to behaviour therapy.

A
  • not well tolerated
  • at least 16% of people refuse ERP
  • around 16% drop-out ] don’t fully engage in ERP tasks
24
Q

what percentage of engagement in ERP is needed in order to have effective outcomes?

A

at least 75%

25
Q

what does the cognitive model say about causes of OCD?

A

caused and maintained by what people believe about their intrusive thoughts.

26
Q

outline the cognitive model of OCD.

A

intrusive thoughts - beliefs about intrusive thought - anxiety - compulsive behaviour

27
Q

obsessive compulsive cognitions working group (OCCWG) identified six OCD-related beliefs, these were…

A
  1. importance of thought control
  2. importance od thoughts
  3. intolerance of uncertainty
  4. overestimation of threat
  5. personal responsibility for causing/ preventing harm
  6. perfectionism
28
Q

which OCD-related beliefs did factor analysis reveal?

A

1+2 (importance) , 3+6 (intolerance and perfectionism) , 5+4 (responsibility, threat)
- people with OCD score significantly more highly on 1+2 and 5+4 than people with other anxiety disorders and controls

29
Q

give evidence for responsibility beliefs.

A
  • manipulating sense of responsibility led to decreased urge to check.
  • in non-clinical population, led to greater checking behaviours
30
Q

give evidence for importance of thoughts.

A
  • manipulating beliefs and importance of thought control led to more intrusions and distress.
31
Q

state limitations to the cognitive model.

A
  • limited research that beliefs of intrusive thoughts play a casual role
  • cognitive therapy no more effective than ERP
  • dev origins of OCD-related beliefs not well understood
  • not all people with OCD are concerned with intrusive thoughts, cog model cannot not explain this.
32
Q

outline ERP in practice.

A
  • working together to identify main areas of OCD difficultly
  • identify ERP tasks that will trigger the intrusive thoughts and prevent engagement in compulsive behaviours or ritual.
  • write down a list of ERP tasks graded in difficulty
  • collaboratively support person to engage in tasks
  • tasks prolonged and repeated daily in a variety of contexts.
33
Q

state problems with habituation.

A
  • degree of habituation doesn’t seem to predict treatment outcomes for exposure-based therapy
  • anxiety isn’t always the troubling emotion in OCD
34
Q

what are the aimed positive outcomes of ERP tasks?

A
  • anxiety (or other problematic emotion) isn’t dangerous
  • can cope with high levels of anxiety
  • feared outcome doesn’t occur.
35
Q

outline cognitive therapy in practice.

A
  1. identify beliefs about intrusive thoughts
  2. dev shared formulation
  3. dev behavioural experiments to test accuracy of beliefs
    - person makes prediction of outcome
    - actual outcome usually not what was predicted = thoughts were irrational and so re-evaulated.
36
Q

name the finding from RCT comparing ERP with CT.

A
  • participants completed obsessive compulsive scale pre and post therapy + 3 months and two years after end of therapy.
  • no significant difference between the two, but both more effective than control conditions.
37
Q

50% of people do not recover following ERP or CT, suggest what is needed to increase this percentage.

A
  • improve engagement

- dev more acceptable, alternative therapies.

38
Q

define mindfulness

A
  • state of consciousness
  • full, curious and interested awareness of present experiences
  • non-judgmental, accepting attitude towards experience
39
Q

describe MBIs.

A
  • incorporate mindfulness often with behavioural and cognitive approaches
  • help reduce relapse and depressive symptom severity
  • can help improve engagement by enabling people to tolerate anxiety, lessen beliefs about importance of intrusive thoughts, consciously choose to disengage from compulsions.
  • shown to improve OCD symptom severity.