Obsessive compulsive disorder and dissociation - comparison with healthy controls

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental health condition.
• The role of psychological dissociation in OCD is not fully understood.
• Previous research has not consistently compared dissociation levels between OCD patients and healthy controls.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between psychological dissociation and psychopathology in OCD patients.
• To compare dissociation levels in individuals with OCD versus healthy controls.
• To determine if dissociation influences the intensity of anxiety, depression, and OCD symptoms.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-five OCD patients and 123 healthy controls were recruited.
• Psychiatric assessment and diagnosis using ICD-10 criteria and the MINI structured interview.
• Validated scales were used: Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES).

Main Results:

• Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) scores significantly correlated with anxiety (p<0.0001), depression (p<0.0001), and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity (p<0.005).
• OCD patients exhibited significantly lower mean DES scores compared to healthy controls (p<0.0001).

Conclusions:

• Psychological dissociation levels are lower in OCD patients than in healthy individuals.
• Dissociation is associated with the severity of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in OCD.
• Findings suggest dissociation may play a complex role in the manifestation of psychopathology in OCD.