[Assertive community treatment in patients with severe obsessive-compulsive disorders]

For the use of psychosocial treatments for severe mental illness, there is a high evidence level. Obsessive-compulsive disorders are accompanied by severe disabilities in one third of the cases, however, there is little scientific research on the use of psychosocial therapies in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders. In the following, the concept of an outreaching multi-professional treatment based on the assertive community treatment (ACT) method for severe compulsive illnesses is presented and discussed based on two case studies. There was an obvious reduction in clinically rated severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms, as measured by the Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOCS), over the course of ACT. Comparison between pre- and post-treatment states demonstrated a reduction in the total Y-BOCS score after the treatment (case 1: total Y-BOCS score 37 versus 26; case 2: total Y-BOCS score 36 versus 16).