OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER OCD Dearbhla Egan N 00145682

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD) Dearbhla Egan (N 00145682) Liam Devereux (N 00131996) Louise Grant (N 00144786)

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER • OCD is a chronic anxiety disorder characterised by the prevalence of obsession and compulsions. • Obsessions are persistent thoughts, impulses and images which are experienced as intrusive or inappropriate causing anxiety. • Compulsions are repeated behaviours or thought patterns performed in response to an obsession in order to reduce anxiety, distress or to prevent a perceived dreaded outcome (Adam, Meinlschmidte, Gloster & Leib (2012). • It is uncontrollable, time-consuming and causes significant problems in daily life.

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER • There are four main types of OCD (García-Sorianoa , Bellocha, Morillio & Clark , 2011): • Hoarding • Contamination and Washing • Symmetry and Order • Blasphemy and Sexual Obsessions

FACTS & STATISTICS • Approximately 2 -3% of the population globally and in Ireland experience OCD • In the European Union 2. 9 million people suffer with OCD • The World Health Organisation ranks OCD as one of the top ten debilitating disorders • In the United States, approximately 3. 3 million people have OCD • OCD occurs equally in men, women and all ethnic groups

COMORBID DISORDERS Comorbidity is the existence of more than one disorder or disease in an individual at the same time Individuals with OCD are at high risk of having other co-existing disorders The most common concurrent disorders are: • Major Depressive Disorder • Eating Disorders • Other Anxiety Disorders • ADHD

OCD & STIGMA • Certain stigma associated with OCD and anxiety disorders that can prevent someone from seeking treatment • A survey conducted in the UK on beliefs about anxiety disorders found: • People with anxiety and mental health disorders are dangerous & unpredictable • Felt uneasy talking to someone with an anxiety disorder • Some anxiety and mental health disorders are self inflicted by the individual

OUR BLOGS • We found the blogs on two websites; www. ocdyouth. org and www. jessicsaocdstories. blogspot. ie • The first blog was Esme’s Story: • She had OCD for as long as she could remember. She was clinically diagnosed with several mental illnesses at the age of 12. She thought her rituals and obsessions were normal. Her friends and family were worried but no one ever asked the right questions and her OCD went unnoticed. She got diagnosed with OCD at the age of 15. • The second blog was Born This Way: • Katie’s life was filled with quirks. She would rearrange product isles when shopping and it bugged her if it wasn’t done right. She thought it was a phase and she didn’t have OCD. She didn’t realise how bad it was until she was curled up on the floor and couldn’t move for fear of contamination. She then seeked treatment.

OUR BLOGS • The third blog was OCD and Me – Part One • Jessica knew what she was getting herself into and what she needed to do when she went into the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder institute. She wanted to take on the challenge. She would get obsessed with something completely irrational and perform rituals to reduce her anxiety. • There was similar themes observed throughout these three blogs which is why we chose to analyse them as part of our research

THEMES • The themes we identified were: • Isolation • Depression • Dysfunction • Stigma • Fortitude • Rituals and Compulsions • Treatment

Thematic Analysis 40, 00% 38% 35, 00% 30, 00% 29% 25, 00% 23% 22% 20, 00% 19% 17% 15, 00% 10, 00% 5, 00% 0, 00% Fortitude Isolation Rituals and Compulsions Depression Dysfunction Stigma Treatment

SIGNIFICANT THEMES • Although we analysed several themes, 4 themes were prominent: • Treatment (37. 5%) • Fortitude (28. 57%) • Isolation (25%) • Rituals and Compulsions (22. 72%) • These 4 themes were the most prominent however, interestingly, these themes showed fewer instances of observation but had the highest interrater reliability.

THEMES - TREATMENT • Treatment had the highest agreement across all the members: • Blog 2 “I targeted many of my OCD symptoms, worked with coaches and therapists”. • Treatment was found to be the most prominent theme and the highest in agreement across all three blogs. • Treatment related to any attempt to remedy OCD symptoms, an example include: “Starting an anti-psychotic medication”

THEMES - FORTITUDE • Fortitude was the next highest theme across the blogs: • Blog 3 “I learned how to ride out my anxiety and challenge obsessive thoughts when they reared their ugly head and things did get better”. • Fortitude was the ability to withstand tackle the challenges presented by OCD.

THEMES - ISOLATION • The third most prevalent theme was Isolation: • Blog 1 “OCD gradually consumed me to the point where I struggled to leave the house in order to go to lectures or socialise with friends”. • Isolation referred to both the physical and emotional distanced formed between the author of the blog and their support groups i. e. friends and family.

THEMES – RITUALS & COMPULSIONS • The fourth most prominent theme was Rituals and Compulsions: • Blog 1 “I obsessed over something completely irrational and had to perform rituals in order to reduce my anxiety”. • Rituals and compulsions referred to the prevalent symptoms experienced by people with OCD.

COMMONLY OCCURRING THEMES • Interestingly themes that occurred most often were not necessarily themes with the highest interrater reliability. Theme Number of times theme occurred Total Observations Formula Percentage of total observations Depression 18 115 18 x 100 115 1 15. 65% Dysfunction 27 115 27 x 100 115 1 23. 48% Fortitude 14 115 14 x 100 115 1 12. 17% Isolation 12 115 12 x 100 115 1 10. 44% Stigma 6 115 6 x 100 115 1 5. 22% Treatment 16 115 16 x 100 115 1 13. 91% Compulsions 22 115 22 x 100 115 1 19. 13%

Thank you for your attention. Any questions?

REFERENCES • Adam, Y. , Meinlschmidt, G. , Gloster, A. T. , & Lieb, R. (2012). Obsessive–compulsive disorder in the community: 12 -month prevalence, comorbidity and impairment. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 47(3), 339 -349. • García-Soriano, G. , Belloch, A. , Morillo, C. , & Clark, D. A. (2011). Symptom dimensions in obsessive–compulsive disorder: From normal cognitive intrusions to clinical obsessions. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25(4), 474 -482. • OCD Youth (2014, October 16 th). Esme’s Story. Retrieved from: ocdyouth. org/blogs/esmes-story/. • OCD Youth (2016, September 27 th). Born This Way. Retrieved from: ocdyouth. org/blogs/born-that-way/. • Bishop, Jessica (2015, January 7 th). OCD and Me – Part One. Retrieved from: jessicasocdstories. blogspot. ie. • OCD Ireland. The Three Disorders. Retrieved from: www. ocdireland. org/the-threedisorders/ocd/.