Causes of OCD
Causes of OCD
What are the Biological causes of OCD?
• Genes: There is a moderate genetic predisposition stronger than any other anxiety disorder
• Biological Preparedness: some species of animals engage in compulsive rituals such as grooming under high conflict situations. OCD in humans may be similar to this
• Brain Neurodivergence: In orbital frontal cortex/caudate nucleus which filters impulses toward sex, aggression, hygiene. Inadequate filtering may lead to leaked impulses that show up as obsessions
• Serotonin: Current evidence suggests that increased serotonin activity and increased sensitivity of some brain structures to serotonin are involved in OCD symptoms
What are the Psychological causes of OCD?
• Cognitive biases: Their attention is drawn to disturbing material relevant to their obsessive concerns, much as occurs in the other anxiety disorders
• Thought suppression: Studies show that attempting to suppress thoughts actually make them more frequent
• Thought Action Fusion: People with OCD have an inflated sense of responsibility & believe having a thought is the same as doing something.
• Conditioned Fear of Intrusive Thoughts: After enough repetition, unwanted thoughts become conditioned to elicit anxiety so that people become afraid of their own thoughts. People with OCD catastrophize the existence of intrusive, unwanted thoughts.
What are the Behavioral causes of OCD?
• Learning: Neutral stimuli become frightening thoughts or experiences through classical conditioning and come to elicit anxiety
Example:
• Touching a doorknob or shaking hands might become associated with the ‘scary’ idea of contamination. Once association is made, the person discovers that the anxiety produced by shaking hands or touching a doorknob can be reduced by hand washing
• Washing hands reduces anxiety, and so the washing response is reinforced, which makes it more likely to occur again in the future when other situations evoke anxiety about contamination. Once learned, such avoidance responses are extremely resistant to extinction
by Ascent CBT January 12, 2023
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Cristian's kind and empathetic nature always made me find our sessions a safe and happy place. I gained a new perspective on so many things that had been causing me anxiety by learning about the CBT framework of anxiety”
I have referred many people to York Region CBT - Cristian over the last year and would support anyone any parent who's child is dealing with OCD to make that initial appointment and start working with Cristian.
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