Compulsive rituals in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - A qualitative exploration of thoughts, feelings and behavioral patterns.

Autor: Wairauch Y; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel., Siev J; Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, USA., Hasdai U; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel., Dar R; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Electronic address: ruvidar@post.tau.ac.il.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry [J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry] 2024 Sep; Vol. 84, pp. 101960. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Mar 11.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.101960
Abstrakt: Background and Objectives: Rituals are common among healthy individuals and across cultures and often serve adaptive purposes. In individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), rituals become compulsive, time-consuming and distressing, and may lead to functional impairment. Previous research has examined the functions and characteristics of compulsive rituals, but there is paucity of in-depth, first-person reports about this topic.
Method: We used a qualitative approach to explore thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns that characterize OCD rituals. Ten individuals with OCD participated in a semi-structured interview that focused on their most prominent compulsive ritual. The interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis.
Results: Eight themes emerged from the analysis and were organized in two main categories: Micro Level perspective, comprising triggers, attention, emotional changes, and stopping criteria; and Macro Level perspective, comprising feelings and perceptions, change over time, motives, and inhibitors. The findings shed light on the role of fixed rules and feelings of "completeness" in OCD rituals, the nature of emotional and attentional characteristics during rituals performance, and the evolution of compulsive rituals over time.
Limitations: This study used a qualitative approach based on a small number of participants, which limits the generalizability of the findings.
Conclusion: Our results, if replicated, may have clinical implications. The reported patterns of anxiety reduction during ritual performance may contribute to the fine-tuning of CBT for OCD. The findings concerning the nature of attention during ritual performance and the development of rituals over time may be important for understanding the mechanisms that maintain compulsive rituals.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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