Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Paper Summary:

OCD is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts and/or repetitive behavior. This paper explains that no definitive cause for this condition exists, although serotonin brain uptake is thought to play a significant role. It shows that specific criteria exist for diagnosis of OCD. It discusses that effective treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder are available and that research is yielding new, improved therapies that can help most people with OCD and other anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives.

From the Paper:

"Treatment of OCD in adults has demonstrated that medications are effective, and the existing studies of children with OCD using medications also tend to suggest some benefit (Angst et al., 2005). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are preferred over the other classes of antidepressants because the adverse effect profile is less prominent (Mataix-Cols et al., 2005). These SSRIs are considered to be the first-line medications for treatment of OCD. Fluoxetine and paroxetine have been demonstrated to be effective in controlled studies (Kaplan & Hollander, 2003). Most experts recommends trials with two or three of the SSRI medicines before switching to a different class of medication (Kaplan & Hollander, 2003). With all of these medicines, a large number of persons with OCD do not respond until 8-12 weeks of treatment. Approximately one third of patients do not respond to a particular SSRI, and the likelihood of responding drops significantly after 3 SSRI trials (Kaplan & Hollander, 2003)."

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