The co-occurrence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and psychotic illness has been a challenge for clinicians and investigators for more than a century.1 Over the past decade, interest in this area has burgeoned because of recognition of higher-than-chance comorbidity rates of schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and observations of appearance or exacerbation of OCS during treatment of schizophrenia with atypical antipsychotics. More »

Psychiatrists will have to take the lead in ensuring that deep-brain stimulation (DBS)—approved by the FDA in February for the first time for use in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)—is used appropriately. More »

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogeneous disorder with a variety of phenotypic expressions. Delineation of clinically distinct subtypes of the disorder may be valuable in predicting treatment response and resistance. More »

DURHAM, N.C. -- The mystery of obsessive-compulsive disorder may be at least partly solved, with a discovery that implicates a structural protein missing in the brains of certain excessively groomed mice. More »

DURHAM, N.C. -- The mystery of obsessive-compulsive disorder may be at least partly solved, with a discovery that implicates a structural protein missing in the brains of certain excessively groomed mice. More »

MINNEAPOLIS -- For patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, an anti-tuberculosis drug can jump start behavioral therapy, investigators here have found. More »

CANBERRA, Australia -- Behavioral or cognitive behavioral therapy, with or without medication, is the top choice against obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents, according to a systematic Cochrane review. More »

Patients with OCD generally respond best to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). At the core of the behavior therapy program is a technique known as exposure and ritual prevention (ERP). More »

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) may hold promise for patients with treatment-resistant and severe major depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it may not be the best choice for patients with Parkinson (PD) disease who display certain compulsive behaviors, reported researchers from the Cleveland Clinic and from Brown Medical School (Providence, Rhode Island) at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons, which took place April 22-27 in San Francisco. More »

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a prevalent, disabling and chronic illness. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the first-line of treatment; however a large proportion of patients will have either a partial or nonresponse. This review outlines the strategies for treatment-resistant OCD, including augmentation agents, alternative monotherapies, intravenous strategies and newer nonpharmacologic somatic treatments under development. More »