Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:Boundary Issues
Abstract
The boundaries between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other neuropsychiatric disorders remain unresolved and may well differ from one disorder to another. Endophenotypes are heritable, quantitative traits hypothesized to more closely represent genetic risk for complex polygenic mental disorders than overt symptoms and behaviors. They may have a role in identifying how closely these disorders are associated with another and with other mental disorders with which they share major comorbidity. This review maps the nosological relationships of OCD to other neuropsychiatric disorders, using OCD as the prototype disorder and endophenotype markers, such as cognitive, imaging, and molecular data as well as results from demographic, comorbidity, family, and treatment studies. Despite high comorbidity rates, emerging evidence suggests substantial endophenotypic differences between OCD and anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and addictions, though comparative data is lacking and the picture is far from clear. On the other hand, strong relationships between OCD, Tourette syndrome, body dysmorphic disorder, hypochondriasis, grooming disorders, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus are likely. Studies designed to delineate the cause, consequences, and common factors are a challenging but essential goal for future research in this area.
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Common cooccurring disorders in OCD include depression (66%), specific phobia (22%), social anxiety disorder (18%), eating disorder (17%), alcohol dependence (14%), and panic disorder (12%).
“Common cooccurring disorders include depression (66%), specific phobia (22%), social anxiety disorder (18%), eating disorder (17%), alcohol dependence (i.e., “alcohol use disorder” per DSM‐5) (14%), and panic disorder (12%) (Fineberg et al., 2007).”
From Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Etiology, neuropathology, and cognitive dysfunction (2023) · cites this paper as Fineberg et al., 2007
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- Authors
- Fineberg, N. A., Saxena, S., Zohar, J., & Craig, K. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Hertfordshire (GB)
- Venue
- CNS Spectrums
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2007-05
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 359-375
- ISSN
- 1092-8529 (ISSN-L)
- 2165-6509
- OpenAlex
- W2148505943
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 1.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- CNS Spectrums (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH069433, 5R01 MH69433-03)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- obsessive-compulsive disorder, disease classification, endophenotypes, comorbidities, neuropsychiatric disorders, Tourette syndrome, body dysmorphic disorder, health anxiety, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, PANDAS, anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, addiction, genetic risk
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety Disorders, Brain, Depressive Disorder, Major, Major Depressive Disorder, Humans, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Phenotype, Comorbidity, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Positron-Emission Tomography
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