Disturbances in time perception in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

The experience of time and the temporal order of external and internal events is essential for humans. Impairments in the experience of time have long been discussed in relation to main psychiatric disorders, but rarely in relation to obsessive-compulsive disorder. This pilot study therefore investigated impairments in the experience of time in terms of time perception and time awareness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as possible neurobiological correlates.

Twenty patients (11 men and 9 women, mean age 43.3, SD = 14.3) with an ICD-10 diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (F42.X) and 20 healthy subjects matched by age and gender (13 men and 7 women, mean age 40.2, SD = 15.4) were examined using time experience questionnaires, time estimation tasks, and flicker fusion frequency.

Significant differences were found in the experience of time between patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and healthy control subjects. The patient group scored lower on time knowledge, time perception, and time management. It is worth mentioning the positive significant correlation (r = 0.641; p = 0.002) between the severity of compulsive behavior and impaired time management.

Disturbances in the experience of time appear to play an important role in psychiatric disorders, also in OCD. It is suggested that the process changes in the experience of time should be given greater consideration in current psychopathological findings.