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Results of OCD research

The results of reseach on obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviour based at Lancaster University is now availble.

Jen Elvish, a trainee clinical psychologists who carried out the research writes of her study:

Earlier this year I carried out a study with people who experience repetitive distressing thoughts and who try to reduce the anxiety and distress caused by these thoughts by completing regular, set acts or behaviours. I advertised on websites, through charities, and through support groups, and invited anyone over the age of 18 who currently lives in the UK and who experiences these types of thoughts and behaviours to complete five questionnaires.

These questionnaires were completely anonymous, and could be completed online or through paper copies. They looked at a range of issues, including type and severity of distressing thoughts and behaviours, how strongly each person believed in their distressing thoughts and behaviours, how reasonable and rational each person believed their distressing thoughts and behaviours were, how worried and low in mood each person felt, and some general information about each person’s background and onset of their distressing thoughts and behaviours.

The aim of the study was to find out which of the issues looked at by the questionnaires affected how strongly people believed their distressing thoughts and behaviours were rational and reasonable. Most people who experience these types of thoughts and behaviours are aware that their thoughts are excessive or irrational, but are unable to stop themselves from completing their set behaviours anyway. There are a small number of people, however, who do not recognise such thoughts and behaviours as irrational, and who genuinely believe that what they are scared of happening will actually happen if they do not complete their set behaviours.

This study found that people with a high level of worry or anxiety, ordering compulsions (needing to line things up or not being able to complete an activity until it is ‘just right’), more severe compulsions (more time-consuming and less able to resist them), accompanied by a high number of other mental health problems (such as depression, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder) were more likely than people without these features to believe that their distressing thoughts and behaviours were rational and reasonable.

This is an important finding because there has been research to show that people who believe more strongly in the reasonableness of their distressing thoughts and behaviours might be less likely to benefit from traditional psychological therapies, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). Instead, O’Connor et al. (2005)* suggest that for people who are not able to recognise that their distressing thoughts and behaviours are excessive, a different type of therapy, using inference-based approaches (IBA), might be more effective.

This new type of therapy is not currently widely offered in the UK, however, now that we are aware of which sorts of people might not be able to gain much benefit from CBT, psychologists and psychiatrists will hopefully become better able to identify these people in the future and suggest IBA therapy where this is possible. As this type of therapy becomes more widely known, it hopefully will be offered by more therapists, offering people with very strong obsessive-compulsive beliefs an alternative type of treatment.

I would like to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation to all 94 people who completed the questionnaires, and to all the individuals, support groups, and organisations who helped me by giving out my advertisements and questionnaires. Without your help this study would not have been possible.

Jen Elvish
Trainee Clinical Psychologist

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
Whewell Building
Fylde Avenue
Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA1 4YF

* O’Connor, K., Aardema, F., & Pélissier, M-C. (2005). Beyond reasonable doubt: Reasoning processes in obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley.

Date: 27 August 2008

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Results of OCD research

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