Manifesto for a European research network into obsessive-compulsive and related disorders

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (O-CRDs) are highly disabling psychiatric illnesses of early-onset. They are responsible for considerable morbidity and socioeconomic burden. Existing treatments are usually only partially successful and there is an urgent need to understand the aetiological factors and neurobiological bases of the disorders in order to develop new and more effective strategies for prevention, early detection and effective treatment. Emerging data from the neurosciences supports the reconceptualisation of obsessive-compulsive disorder as a spectrum disorder, related to but different from the anxiety disorders and closely aligned with other less well understood psychiatric disorders characterised by compulsive acts such as body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania, skin-picking disorder, hoarding disorder; and possibly extending to tic disorders and other neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. A new, O-CRDs research network, supported by the Networks Initiative of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology and comprising leading figures in preclinical and clinical research, has been established. It aims to provide a European perspective on the current debate around internationally-accepted diagnostic criteria and treatment strategies for O-CRDs. Its objectives include; (1) identifying the key outstanding research questions that depend upon cross-centre collaborative investigation, (2) setting a research agenda that is likely to produce an impact on health-outcomes, and (3) strengthening existing projects and collaborative enterprises with these objectives in mind. This paper reviews some of these critical research priorities. By establishing shared multinational databases, collaborative research networks, multicentre studies and joint publications, it is hoped that progress will be achieved.