Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Epidemiology
- Comorbidity
- OCD and Tic Disorder
- OCD and Depression
- OCD and Other Anxiety Disorders
- OCD and Phobia
- OCD and OCPD
- OCD and Schizophrenia
- Course and Prognosis
- Etiology
- Specific Clinical Response
- Serotonin Antagonists
- Pharmacological Challenges
- Dopamine
- Immune Factors
- Brain Imaging Studies
- Genetics
- Other Biological Data
- Behavioral Factors
- Psychosocial Factors
- Treatment of OCD
- Efficacy of Serotonergic vs Adrenergic Antidepressants
- Long Term Treatment of OCD
- Drug Dosage
- Psychological Approaches
- Treatment Resistant OCD
- Switching Medications
- Augmentation
- Risperidone
- Pindolol
- Other Options
- Intravenous Clomipramine
- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors
- Last-line Therapies
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Behavioral Factors for OCD
According to learning theory, obsessions are conditioned stimuli. When a relatively neutral stimulus is coupled with an anxiety-provoking one, through conditioning it will produce anxiety, even when presented alone. Compulsions reduce anxiety and the patient repeats and learns them in order to avoid anxiety. Avoidance strategies are learned and become fixed, eventually becoming a source of disability.