Obsessions in normality and psychopathology

Abstract

Obsessions are common phenomena in the general population and are associated with decreased functioning in several areas of health and well-being. Furthermore, they occur frequently in the presence of various psychiatric disorders. Obsessions should be perceived, similar to delusions, as a distinct dimension across psychiatric disorders rather than a mere symptom of OCD.

Obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions in a population-based, cross-sectional sample of school-aged children

“…Regarding clinical severity, our results are consistent with previous studies assessing juvenile samples that demonstrated the presence of OCS in children is associated with increased levels of psychiatric symptom comorbidity and clinical impairment (Apter et al, 1996;Blom et al, 2011;Canals et al, 2012;Vivan et al, 2014;Voltas et al, 2014). Therefore, we agree with authors who suggest that threshold obsessive compulsive phenomena should be more actively and systematically investigated by primary care and mental health professionals ).…”

Obsessive–compulsive symptoms are associated with psychiatric comorbidities, behavioral and clinical problems: a population-based study of Brazilian school children

“…This is consistent with the literature [11,46]. However, although a higher number of individuals in the OCD and OCS groups had previously sought mental health services in comparison to controls, only 11.7 % of subjects from the OCD group had sought (or were referred to) mental health services [8,13].…”

Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Medical Students: Prevalence, Severity, and Correlates

“…Furthermore, 67 % of OCD patients who sought treatment had comorbid major depression [38]. Likewise, Blom et al [39] reported that obsessions were associated with impairment in functioning and poorer quality of life in various domains, even after controlling for the effect of other mental disorders. In OCD, higher severity of obsessive thoughts and comorbid depression were also associated with poorer quality of life [48], which can lead to treatment seeking.…”

“…Given that OCS are not exclusive to OCD, occurring even in people without any psychiatric disorder, recent community surveys [20,[38][39][40] have adopted a dimensional approach to evaluate the occurrence of OCS, including subclinical manifestations, rather than a categorical view (i.e., presence or absence of OCD diagnosis).…”