The effects of COVID-19 pandemic on OCD symptoms
Introduction It is highly likely that the COVID-19 pandemic will have significant adverse effects on the majority of mental disorders, including OCD. This is in addition to widely-reported negative effects on whole population wellbeing. In a recent Danish study looking at effects in young people, Nissen et al [1] used a questionnaire to assess the... Continue reading→
Evidence review: N-acetylcysteine for OCD
Introduction N-acetylcysteine is thought to regulate glutamate neurotransmission in the brain, and also acts as a potential anti-oxidant. It increases the amount of extracellular glutamate by enhancing the activity of the cystine/ glutamate transporter. There are a number of other drugs that are sometimes used to treat OCD that act on glutamate. These include: Memantine; Riluzole,... Continue reading→
Delivering treatment for OCD during a pandemic
Introduction The pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the whole of the NHS, but it has also affected the availability of services for OCD. Not only that, but the nature of the pandemic will have had effects on many people with OCD; particularly those with contamination obsessions and cleaning compulsions. In this article, I... Continue reading→
OCD severity in people seen by the AIS
Introduction People sometimes wonder how severe patients being seen by a specialist service are. The following is a description of the severity of symptoms that individuals seen by the AIS present with, based on a relatively large sample of patients seen over the last 14 years. Demographics The data come from 81 patients seen between... Continue reading→