Current Psychiatry Reviews - Volume 10, Issue 4, 2014

In this article we define and describe the use of exposure-based therapy for OCD. This approach involves confrontation with feared stimulus with the aim of facilitating fear extinction. Exposure, however, is not applicable for a number of psychological conditions now listed as related to OCD in the DSM-5. We explain when it is appropriate to use exposure and when it is not, and raise cautions for clinicians to consider when worki Read More

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) includes a new category for Obsessive Compulsive Related Disorders (OCRDs). This category is based on the premise that the conditions in this class share a dysfunction in behavioral inhibition, and that treatment using similar methods have comparable efficacy. The available literature is examined to determine the degree that the conditions in this category are Read More

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a severe disorder that is heterogeneous in nature and often challenging to treat. Exposure and response prevention is the leading treatment for OCD and has proven efficacious, with 75% long term improvement in symptoms. However, many patients do not respond optimally to treatment. In fact, many remain treatment resistant. The purpose of the current paper is to discuss factors Read More

This paper reviews Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Obsessive Compulsive (OC) spectrum disorders (e.g., trichotillomania and chronic skin picking). It reviews the philosophy of science that underlies ACT: functional contextualism; the basic research that informs it: learning theory, rule governed behavior and relational frame theory; ACT’s model: psy Read More

Many children and adults with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder experience incomplete symptom relief despite treatment with several evidence-based interventions for OCD. Converging lines of evidence from genetic, neuroimaging, biochemical and pharmacological studies implicate the importance of abnormalities in the glutamate symptoms in the pathogenesis of OCD. Strong evidence suggests that oxidative stress ma Read More

Variants of exposure therapy are effective for treating obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs). However, significant numbers of patients do not respond adequately to exposure therapy resulting in continued distress and functional impairment. Therefore, novel approaches to augmenting exposure therapy are needed to adequately treat non- and partial-responders. Emerging research suggests that interventio Read More

DSM-IV categorized obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as an anxiety disorder, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) as a somatoform disorder, and trichotillomania as an impulse control disorder not elsewhere classified. In DSM-5, these three disorders, together with hoarding disorder and excoriation (skin picking) disorder, which are new disorders in DSM-5, are classified together in a new chapter of obsessive-compulsive a Read More

Introduction: Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is an assessment instrument that is known worldwide. It is widely used for rating the severity of illness. Results from evaluations in psychiatry should characterize the patients. Rating of GAF is based on collected information. The aim of the study is to identify the factors involved in collecting information that is relevant for rating GAF, and gaps in knowledge where it is likely th Read More