OCD TERM

DEFINITION

CBT

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy based on modifying everyday thoughts and behaviors, with the aim of positively influencing emotions. The general approach developed out of behavior modification and Cognitive Therapy, and has become widely used to treat mental disorders. The particular therapeutic techniques vary according to the particular kind of client or issue, but commonly include keeping a diary of significant events and associated feelings, thoughts and behaviors; questioning and testing assumptions or habits of thoughts that might be unhelpful and unrealistic; gradually facing activities which may have been avoided; and trying out new ways of behaving and reacting. Relaxation and distraction techniques are also commonly

included. CBT is widely accepted as an evidence-based, cost-effective psychotherapy for many

disorders. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is based on the idea that how we think (cognition), how we

feel (emotion) and how we act (behavior) all interact together. Specifically, our thoughts determine our feelings and our behavior. Therefore, negative - and unrealistic - thoughts can cause us distress and result in problems.

One example could be someone who, after making a mistake, thinks "I'm useless and can't do anything right." This impacts negatively on mood, making the person feel depressed; the problem may be worsened if the individual reacts by avoiding activities. As a result, a successful experience becomes more unlikely,

which reinforces the original thought of being "useless." In therapy, the latter example could be identified as a self-fulfilling prophecy or "problem cycle," and the efforts of the therapist and client would be directed at working together to change this. This is done by addressing the way the client thinks in response to similar situations and by developing more flexible thought patterns, along with reducing the avoidance of activities. If, as a result, the client escapes the negative thought pattern, the feelings of depression may be relieved. The client may then become more active, succeed more often, and further reduce feelings of depression.

Compulsion(s)

Compulsions are defined by:

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

 

The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive.

Child Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale

DSM

DSM IV

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a handbook for mental health professionals that lists different categories of mental disorder and the criteria for diagnosing them, according to the publishing organization the American Psychiatric Association. It is used worldwide by clinicians and researchers as well as insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and policy makers.

It has attracted controversy and criticism as well as praise.

The DSM has gone through five revisions since it was first published in 1952. The last major revision was the DSM-IV published in 1994, although a "text revision" was produced in 2000. The DSM-V is currently in consultation, planning and preparation, due for publication in approximately 2011. The mental disorders section of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) is another commonly-used guide, and the two classifications use the same diagnostic codes.

ERP

Exposure Response Prevention

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is a treatment method available from behavioral

psychologists and cognitive-behavioral therapists for a variety of anxiety disorders, especially Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is an example of an Exposure Therapy, with the addition of Response Prevention.

The method is predicated on the idea that a therapeutic effect is achieved as subjects confront their fears and discontinue their escape response. An example would be of a person who repeatedly checks light switches to make sure they're turned off. They would carry out a program of exposure to their feared stimulus (leaving lights switched on) while refusing to engage in any safety behaviors. It differs from Exposure Therapy for phobia in that the resolution to refrain from the avoidance

response is to be maintained at all times and not just during specific practice sessions. Thus, not only does the subject experience habituation to the feared stimulus, they also practice a

fear-incompatible behavioral response to the stimulus.

Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts are unwelcome, involuntary thoughts, images or unpleasant ideas that may become obsessions, are upsetting or distressing, and can be difficult to manage and be free of. Intrusive thoughts, urges, and images are of inappropriate things at inappropriate times, usually falling into three categories:

inappropriate aggressive thoughts, inappropriate sexual thoughts, or blasphemous religious thoughts. Most people experience these thoughts; when they are associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or depression, they may become paralyzing, anxiety-provoking, and persistent.

Obsessions

Obsessions are defined by:

Recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress.

 

The thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems.

 

The person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action.

 

The person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind, and are not based in reality.

 

The tendency to haggle over small details that the viewer is unable to fix or change in any way. This begins a mental pre-occupation with that which is inevitable.

OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors such as handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing

obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these so-called "rituals," however, provides onlytemporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety.

PANDAS

Definition coming soon...

Religiosity

See Scrupulosity

Scrupulosity is obsessive concern with one's personal sins, including "sinful" acts or thoughts usually considered minor or not sins at all within one's religious tradition. The condition can occur in nearly all religions having some sort of religious code. The term is derived from the Latin scrupulus, a sharp stone, implying a stabbing pain on the conscience.  

In modern times, scrupulosity is often considered to be a religious expression of obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD. The scrupulous person lacks a "normal" or balanced religious outlook, veering to the extreme. Often the person has a morbid feeling that he or she is rejected by God and doomed to damnation in spite of rigid adherence to rituals or rules of conduct. The over-scrupulous person may

refuse to acknowledge the verdict of otherwise accepted religious authorities that he or she is being excessively concerned with moot religious points. Scrupulous behavior can take the form of repeated ritual observances or other "cleansing" behavior, such as baths -- in severe cases, as many as 35 baths a day.

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter synthesized in serotonergic neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) and enterochromaffin cells in the gastrointestinal tract.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of antidepressants

used in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders and some personality disorders. Studies have also found that SSRIs, as a side effect of their action, may cause in many people either a delay of sexual climax or anorgasmia, so they can be used to develop drugs specifically targeted to treat premature ejaculation.

SSRIs increase the extracellular level of the neurotransmitter serotonin by inhibiting

its reuptake into the presynaptic cell, increasing the level of serotonin available to bind to the postsynaptic receptor. They have varying degrees of selectivity for the other monoamine transporters, having little binding affinity for the noradrenaline and dopamine transporters. They are pharmacologically similar to methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and other reuptake inhibiting drugs. They act in a similar way by allowing chemicals to stay in synapses longer

Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale

Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale – sometimes referred to as Y-BOCS – is a test to rate the severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was designed newly from the ground up by Dr. Wayne Goodman and colleagues. It is used extensively in research and clinical practice to both determine severity of OCD and to monitor improvement during treatment. This scale, which measures obsessions separately from compulsions, specifically measures the severity of symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder without being biased towards the type of obsessions or compulsions present.

The scale is a clinician-rated, 10-item scale, each item rated from 0 (no symptoms) to 4

(extreme symptoms). The results can be interpreted as follows:

• 0-7 Subclinical

• 8-15 Mild

• 16-23 Moderate

• 24-31 Severe

• 32-40 Extreme

Patients scoring in the mild range or higher should consider professional help in alleviating

obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

The CY-BOCS is the Child / Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale and has been adapted foruse with children and adolescents.

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