NIMH Pages about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Overview of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)…

Find current clinical trials on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)…External Link: Please review our disclaimer.

Publications about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: When Unwanted Thoughts Take Over

A brochure on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that explains the signs, symptoms, and treatments. En Español

PANDAS: Frequently Asked Questions about Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections

Overview and FAQs about this illness.

Anxiety Disorders

A detailed booklet that describes the symptoms, causes, and treatments of the major anxiety disorders, with information on getting help and coping En Español

Science News about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Possible Causes of Sudden Onset OCD in Kids Broadened

Press Release • March 19, 2012
The syndrome, Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS), includes children and teens that suddenly develop on-again/off-again OCD symptoms or abnormal eating behaviors, along with other psychiatric symptoms – without any known cause. An immune-based treatment study is underway at NIH.

Adding Psychotherapy to Medication Treatment Improves Outcomes in Pediatric OCD

Science Update • September 21, 2011
Youth with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) who are already taking antidepressant medication benefit by adding a type of psychotherapy called cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), according to an NIMH-funded study published September 21, 2011, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Mice with Autism-related Mutations Replicate Autism-like Behaviors

Science Update • April 15, 2011
Mice bred to harbor mutations similar to those discovered in people with autism show autism-like repetitive behaviors and social impairments. The behaviors, triggered by deletions in a gene called SHANK3, implicated in some cases of autism, were traced to weak neural connections for functions disturbed in autism.

Silenced Gene for Social Behavior Found in Autism

Science Update • December 03, 2009
For the first time, inherited disruption of gene expression in a brain system for social behavior has been implicated in autism. NIMH grantee Margaret Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., at the University of Miami and Simon Gregory, Ph.D., at Duke University, and a multinational team of researchers found evidence for such epigenetic effects on the gene for the oxytocin receptor -- part of a brain system that mediates social behaviors disturbed in autism. The findings suggest a potential genetic biomarker for the disorder.

Journal Highlights Effectiveness of Research Based Psychotherapies for Youth

Science Update • April 15, 2008
Reviews of the current research on psychosocial and behavioral therapies, or psychotherapies, for children and adolescents found a number of "well established" and "probably efficacious" treatments for many mental disorders. For example, six were "probably efficacious" for anxiety disorders, and two were "well established" for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to scientists funded by NIMH and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, divisions of the National Institutes of Health.

More Science News about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Posts about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

From Paresis to PANDAS and PANS

By Thomas Insel on March 26, 2012

Dr. Insel discusses the connection between mental disorders and infection in light of pediatric neuropsychiatric disorders PANS and PANDAS.

Microbes and Mental Illness

By Thomas Insel on August 13, 2010

Increasing evidence linking strep infection to OCD in children suggests that microbiomics may prove an important research area for understanding and treating mental disorders.