Pure Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Three Generations

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder, which has been shown to affect 2 - 3.5% of people, during their lifetimes. Identification of familial more homogenous characteristics of OCD may help to define relevant subtypes and increase the power of genetic and neurobiological studies of OCD.

This case report describes an adult woman suffering from symptoms of energy loss, insomnia, lack of appetite, and depressed mood. The patient history was positive for counting coercion. The patient's genogram revealed counting coercion in three generations of her family.

This case highlights the issue whether counting can be a distinctive feature among inflicted and not inflicted individuals, such as hoarding. Also, it is still unclear what is it really transferred; the vulnerability to disease, which is transferred among three generations, or the symptoms of counting itself, by genes. Further studies are required to answer the debates on this issue.