ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the phenomenology of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and neurodevelopmental findings. OCD is a highly disabling and common disorder, characterised by obsessions and compulsions, such as unwanted doubts, sexual or aggressive thoughts, concerns regarding symmetry, or contamination concerns. Neurodevelopmentally, frontal-striatal regions have been strongly implicated, with evidence to suggest the involvement of specific neurological circuitry, and robust evidence of resulting neuropsychological changes, albeit of a moderate magnitude. The dominant view of serotonergic dysfunction in OCD is that it arises from hypersensitivity of postsynaptic serotonin receptors, perhaps stemming from serotonin transporter and receptor genetic abnormalities. OCD is not to be confused with the similarly-named Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD). OCPD is a personality disorder characterised by perfectionism that interferes with task completion, dedication to work to the exclusion of leisure, rigidity and stubbornness, hypermorality and scrupulosity, over-attention to detail, miserliness, an inability to discard worn or useless items and an inability to delegate tasks.
