ABSTRACT
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, in terms of symptoms, is a heterogeneous syndrome. The forms of the disorder involve intrusive thoughts or impulses that are experienced as internal, ego-alien, and reprehensible. Although several studies of obsessional patients have used electrodermal or cardiovascular measures as correlates of treatment response, only two have investigated obsessionals prior to treatment in relation to controls. Obsessive-compulsive disorder has been noted to be refractory to most traditional psychological treatments. Several physiologic abnormalities reported to be specific to major depression have been reported in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition, the growth hormone response to intravenous clonidine, which is blunted in primary depressives, is also abnormally reduced in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. For many obsessional patients, the primary symptoms may be an intrusive thought, guilt, or dysphoria, and not anxiety. Depression may be a more likely concomitant of obsessional disorder than agoraphobia or generalized anxiety.
