People often assume that if you have compulsions (or other ritualised behaviour) then you must have OCD. However, this isn't automatically the case since rituals and compulsions occur in other conditions, usually those associated with anxiety. This blog explores what we know about compulsions in Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) versus …
This post should be read alongside the post on compulsive behaviour and rituals. It is aimed at helping clinicians to differentiate between different types of 'intrusive' thought and to assist the diagnostic process. It covers the types of intrusive thoughts that can occur, and tries to summarise the key features of each. It is written …
Read more Obsessions, ruminations, worries, and other intrusive thoughts
This post is a summary of a poster that was presented at the EABCT conference in 2021. We talk about behavioural modification approaches for ritualised behaviour in OCD and other disorders. The full reference is as follows: Buick, R., Cockburn, C. & Christmas, D. (2021) Applying a transdiagnostic approach to treating ritualised behaviour in specialised …
We discuss the issue of higher-than-needed doses of antipsychotic medication for augmentation in OCD. This can cause side effects. We briefly review the evidence to support the use of Risperidone in treating OCD and look at typical doses. We go on to make some recommendations for optimum doses of Risperidone. Background In the last year, …
In this blog we look at a recent study of caffeine for treating OCD (Naftalovich, 2020). We provide a bit of background on why caffeine might be used and then we describe the study design, the main findings, before discussing the clinical implications. Introduction How does caffeine affect the body? Essentially, caffeine is a central …
It is widely reported that people with OCD wait a long time before seeking help for their OCD, and they wait even longer before getting effective treatment. The generally-accepted figures are that: People with OCD wait, on average, eleven years with symptoms before they seek help, and; Wait 17 years from onset of OCD to …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …