ABSTRACT
As we have seen in the previous chapter, Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is listed in the DSM-IV as one of the Anxiety Disorders. While it is clear that patients with this disorder have some characteristics that overlap with the other disorders in this category, some have questioned the appropriateness of its inclusion, arguing instead the existence of an aetiology that is specific to OCD. Some have even suggested that anxiety is not causally implicated in the development of OCD, but rather that the disabling and distressing symptoms of the disorder give rise to the anxiousness that is typically observed in these patients.
