Dissociative symptoms in obsessive-compulsive dimensions

Previous studies have described co-occurrence between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and dissociation. We intended to evaluate the phenomenological association between different obsessive-compulsive and dissociative symptoms more precisely. Seventy patients with OCD (DSM-IV) were evaluated with the Hamburg Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (HZI) and the Dissociation Experience Scale. Correlation and discriminant analysis were performed. The dimensions 'Checking' and 'Symmetry and Ordering' were significantly related to dissociative symptomatology. A clear-cut lack of association was found in 'Washing and Cleaning', 'Counting and Touching' and 'Aggressive Impulses and Fantasies'. HZI dimensions significantly discriminated patients with high from patients with low dissociative symptomatology. Psychodynamic and therapeutical aspects of these findings are discussed.