OCD

Bianca Zaccaria, Micol Scagliola, Sofia Truc,

Giacomo Spinelli Donati, Daniele Rimondi
What is ocd?
- OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

- It is a mental disorder characterized by repetitive actions which

seem impossible to stop

- “Many people without OCD have distressing thoughts or

repetitive behaviors.”-(Hector Colon,Rivera Molly Howland,
2020)
Diagnosis of ocd
- This disorder is diagnosed when these obsessive
compulsions interfere with a person’s everyday life and
activities

- People affected by this disorder take long amounts of

time to perform behaviors related to this disorder and
are frequently affected by stress if they don’t perform
them
Two parts

Obsession
&
Compulsions
obsessions
- Obsessive unwanted thoughts,
sensations or ideas which
repeatedly appear in the
patient’s mind - Usually they make you feel
extremely anxious →people
affected by this disorder often - For a diagnosis these obsessions must
refer to them as mental cover specific characteristics
discomforts (and not as
-Obsessions aren’t really based
anxiety)
only on real problems in your life

-People coherent of having these

obsession and of the fact that they are
excessive try unsuccessfully stop them

-These obsessions cause stress to

the patient
compulsions
They basically consist of
repetitive actions reducing
anxiety caused by the
obsessions For instance excessively
washing your hands more than
once because you keep having
the obsession that they’re still For a diagnosis these compulsions must
dirty cover specific characteristics:

- they must include “ritualistic”

repetitions of the same actions
(which cause high levels of stress if
not performed ritualistically)
- 1 hour per day occupied by these
activities
 Is ocd due
to genetics?
Genetics possible
effect
- OCD Phenotypes: Implications for genetic studies. Miguel et al (2005)

- In this recent study, 325 first- degree family members and 140 relatives were tested

- Results: rates of OCD among first-degree relatives→significantly higher than those seen in family
studies of adult OCD probands

- The rates of ocd cases were 25.2 times higher between case relatives and control relatives

- In general, OCD is much more likely to occur if a primary family member had OCD, a tic disorder
or anxiety disorder

- Another method is looking at twins: A 2014 review (Psychiatric Clinics of North America) studied
5,409 pairs of twins

- results: 52% of identical twins (100% of DNA) both had OCD,

21% of fraternal twins (50% of DNA) both had OCD.
 Possible
environmental
effects
Environmental factors
having an effect on ocd
● Childhood stress and trauma (Pittenger, 2008)

● There are differences in how the brain is structured and works in areas of the brain in people that
have OCD (National Institute of Mental Health, 2008)

● PANDAS (Pittenger, 2008) can trigger some OCD symptoms

● 2008 study: showed a clear linkage between the structure and how the brain functions changes
after overcoming PANDAS and having presently OCD
Environmental factors
having an effect on ocd
● Pregnancy factors: oxytocin change→ possibility of triggering OCD

● Autism- 2015 study : noticed that people with autism had a high chance of later
on developing OCD

● Some other mental health disorder could trigger OCD (Pittenger, 2008):
○ 90% of people adults → such as :anxiety disorders, phobias, major depressive disorder, substance
abuse
○ 20% of children: ADHD and tic disorder
 Conclusion
There were many studies supporting the fact that a genetic
predisposition can affect the probability of developing OCD
(ex: Laderer’s study)

However, also environmental factors play a very important role in the

development of OCD (ex:Pittenger)

In conclusion we can say that OCD is both caused by genetic

predisposition and environmental factors.
 Bibliography
(1) Insider. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from https://www.insider.com/is-ocd-genetic

(2) [2]Laderer, A. (2020, September 18). Yes, OCD is genetic but having a parent or sibling with OCD doesn’t guarantee you’ll have it.

(3) March, J. S. (n.d.). OCD in children and adolescents. Google Books. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from

https://books.google.it/books?hl=it&lr=&id=_buPbCziJLQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=ocd&ots=QZcIn9hD4z&sig=-fuNh1cIU8YRMmrxBYdv825UeN

g&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ocd&f=false

(4) [1]Miguel, E., Leckman, J., Rauch, S. et al. Obsessive-compulsive disorder phenotypes: implications for genetic studies. Mol Psychiatry 10,

258–275 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001617

(5) Pauls, D. L. (2014, May 20). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: an integrative. . . Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from

https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3746?error=cookies_not_supported&code=8bf126de-d5ff-4375-b364-8e7716c9ace7

(6) Rivera, H. C. (2020, December). What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? Web Starter Kit. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ocd/what-is-obsessive-compulsive-disorder

(7) What is OCD? (n.d.). Mind, the Mental Health Charity - Help for Mental Health Problems. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/about-ocd/

(8) Gluck, S. (2019, May 29). OCD diagnosis. HealthyPlace. OCD Diagnosis: OCD Criteria and Characteristics in DSM 5 | HealthyPlace
(9) Miguel, E. C., Leckman, J. F., Rauch, S., do Rosario-Campos, M. C., Hounie, A. G., Mercadante, M. T., ... & Pauls, D. L. (2005).
Obsessive-compulsive disorder phenotypes: implications for genetic studies. Molecular psychiatry, 10(3), 258-275.