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Sexual and religious obsessions were mildly correlated, and clustered with aggressive obsessions.Ī study using similar methods by Leckman et al.
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Contamination obsessions were strongly correlated with cleaning compulsions, as would be expected, but surprisingly, given the clinical distinction often made between cleaners and checkers, these obsessions were also mildly correlated with checking rituals.symmetry and exactness obsessions strongly correlated with ordering compulsions and mildly with repeating and hoarding rituals - yet hoarding obsessions, which were weakly associated with symmetry obsession, were strongly correlated with hoarding compulsions and mildly with ordering rituals.In a study conducted by Baer in 1994, current symptoms drawn from 107 patients' Y-Bocs symptoms checklist clustered into three groups: In the vast majority of instances, compulsions are motivated by obsessions and aim at reducing the associated anxiety or preventing a dreaded event.Īlthough an individual's symptoms often change over time, symptoms present at a given time exhibit certain understandable patterns. Contamination fears and fears of harming oneself or others are the most common obsessional themes, while cleaning and checking are the most common compulsions. The patient's inner experience is disturbed by persistent, intrusive fears, dread of being guilty, pathological doubt, repugnant images or urges, and/or a need to carry actions to completeness or perfection. Moreover, obsessions and compulsions present as infinitely personalized variations on a small number of morbid themes: aggression, harm avoidance, contamination, distateful or excessive sexual ideation, religious concerns, collecting, need for symmetry or order, need to know, and fear of illness. OCD patients rarely have one or two symptoms because most of them have both obsessions and compulsions.
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