ABSTRACT
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric illness that has been recognized and described for more than 100 years. Medical descriptions of OCD symptoms appear in the nineteenth-century writings of Esquirol and Morel. OCD is defined in the DSM-III based on the presence of specific symptoms—obsessions, compulsions, or both. Obsessions are characterized as ego dystonic persistent thoughts, images, and ideas, whereas compulsions are described as seemingly purposeful repetitive, stereotypic behaviors. Anxiety disorders pose severe public health problems because of their chronicity, comorbidity, severe sequelae, and high rates of use of general medical and mental health services. Several investigators have noted an association between Sydenham’s chorea, a childhood onset choreiform movement disorder thought to have an autoimmune cause, and OCD.
