Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive-related disorders (OCRD)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of current knowledge on the treatment of obsessive-compulsive and obsessive-compulsive-related disorders (OCRD - according to DSM-5). The article presents commonly used pharmacological treatments and psychotherapy, as well as surgical and other forms of treatment. According to the analyses that have been made, the variety of responses to the pharmacological treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) depending on the kinds of symptoms is not relevant enough to justify these other forms of treatment. Instead, the choice of medication should be made based on other factors, such as the severity of symptoms and the level of insight into the illness or the symptoms of other disorders co-occurring with the obsessions. These factors are also significant in psychotherapy, but in this case, the dependency between the types of obsessions and compulsions and the therapeutic approach has greater importance. Generally speaking, in OCRD treatment, atendency to use other forms of treatment can be observed for disorders based mainly on the mechanism of compulsivity or impulsivity. Hopes for a more effective treatment are related to the types of pharmacological treatment and modifications of psychotherapeutic methods based on the development happening in the cognitive behavioural approach.

Keywords: obsessive-compulsive and related disorders; pharmacotherapy; psychotherapy.