PATH 10 - OCD characteristics and explanations 1

Question 1

What is OCD?

Answer 1

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a condition characterised by obsessions (recurring thoughts, images, etc.) and/or compulsive behaviour (repetitive behaviour)
• Obsessions are cognitive where compulsions are behavioural

Question 2

What does behavioural mean in terms of OCD?

Answer 2

• Ways in which people act
• In terms of OCD, these are compulsions to repeat behaviours, usually to reduce anxiety, and avoidance of situations

Question 3

What does emotional mean in terms of OCD?

Answer 3

• Related to a person’s feelings or mood
• In terms of OCD, the main characteristic is anxiety, often accompanied by depression and guilt

Question 4

What does cognitive mean in terms of OCD?

Answer 4

• Refers to the process of ‘knowing’, including thinking, reasoning, remembering, believing
• In terms of OCD, these are recurrent obsessive thoughts, accompanied by rituals to cope with the obsession, and insight into excessive anxiety

Question 5

What is the cycle of OCD?

Answer 5

1. Obsessive thought (low levels of serotonin = high levels of aniety) =>
2. anxiety =>
3. compulsive behaviour =>
4. temporary relief (this relief brings pleasure = higher levels of dopamine) ↻

Question 6

What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?

Answer 6

• Compulsions are repetitive
• Compulsions reduce anxiety
• Avoidance

Question 7

Explain the behavioural characteristic of OCD: compulsions are repetitive

Answer 7

Typically, people with OCD feel compelled to repeat a behaviour

Question 8

Explain the behavioural characteristic of OCD: compulsions reduces anxiety

Answer 8

• Around 10% of people with OCD show compulsive behaviour alone
• They have no obsessions, just a general sense of irrational anxiety
• However, for the vast majority, compulsive behaviours are performed in an attempt to manage the anxiety produced by obsessions

Question 9

Explain the behavioural characteristic of OCD: avoidance

Answer 9

• The behaviour of people with OCD may also be characterised by their avoidance as they attempt to reduce anxiety by keeping away from situations that trigger it
• People with OCD tend to try to manage their OCD by avoiding situations that trigger anxiety
• However, this avoidance can lead people to avoid very ordinary situations, and this can interfere with leading a regular life

Question 10

What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?

Answer 10

• Anxiety and distress
• Accompanying depression
• Guilt and disgust

Question 11

Explain the emotional characteristic of OCD: anxiety and distress

Answer 11

• OCD is regarded as a particularly unpleasant emotional experience because of the powerful anxiety that accompanies both obsessions and compulsions
• Obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening, and the anxiety that goes with these can be overwhelming
• The urge to repeat a behaviour (a compulsion) creates anxiety

Question 12

Explain the emotional characteristic of OCD: accompanying depression

Answer 12

• OCD is often accompanied by depression, so anxiety can be accompanied by low mood and lack of enjoyment in activities
• Compulsive behaviour tends to bring some relief from anxiety, but this is temporary

Question 13

Explain the emotional characteristic of OCD: guilt and disgust

Answer 13

As well as anxiety and depression, OCD sometimes involves other negative emotions such as irrational guilt, for example over minor moral issues, or disgust, which may be directed against sometime external like dirt or at the self

Question 14

What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?

Answer 14

• Obsessive thoughts
• Cognitive coping strategies
• Insight into excessive strategy

Question 15

Explain the cognitive characteristic of OCD: obsessive thoughts

Answer 15

• For around 90% of people with OCD the major cognitive feature of their condition is obsessive thoughts, i.e. thoughts that recur over and over again
• These vary considerably from person to person but are always unpleasant
• Examples of recurring thoughts are worries of being contaminated by dirt and germs, or certainty that a door has been left unlocked and that intruders will enter through it, or impulses to hurt someone

Question 16

Explain the cognitive characteristic of OCD: cognitive coping strategies

Answer 16

• Obsessions are the major cognitive aspect of OCD, but people also respond by adopting cognitive coping strategies to deal with the obsessions
• For example, a religious person tormented by obsessive guilt may respond by praying or meditating
• This may help manage anxiety but can make the person appear abnormal to others and can distract them from everyday tasks

Question 17

Explain the cognitive characteristic of OCD: insight into excessive strategy

Answer 17

• People with OCD are aware that their obsessions and compulsions are not rational
• In fact, this is necessary for a diagnosis of OCD
• If someone really believed their obsessive thoughts were based on reality that would be a symptom of a quite different form of mental disorder
• However, despite this insight, people with OCD experience catastrophic thoughts about the worst-case scenarios that might result if their anxieties were justified
• They also tend to be hypervigilant, i.e. they maintain constant alertness and keep attention focused on potential hazards