The role of the Retrospective Identification of Motivations and Inclinations in explaining obsessive beliefs

While psychopathological phenomena of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been well described some time ago, instead there is still need for a deeper understanding of mechanisms underlying psychopathological phenomena themselves. About this, a recently proposed concept - the 'Retrospective Identification of Motivations and Inclinations' (RIMI) - seems to have a promising explanatory capacity about different aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder. For example, as shown elsewhere, it appears to shed new light on the so-called 'fear of self' in OCD. In this paper, the role of RIMI in explaining OCD related 'belief domains' (responsibility/threat, importance/control of thoughts, perfectionism/certainty) will be discussed on the base of clinical cases. Moreover, within this discussion, the possible contribution of RIMI to the pathogenesis of both obsessions and compulsions will also be briefly outlined. Finally, a hypothesis about the probable genesis of this process will be advanced.