People suffering with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy. OCD is a chronic and disabling anxiety disorder characterised by recurrent obsessions, such as persistent thoughts, impulses or mental images that promote anxiety, together with compulsions, such as repetitive behaviours like washing hands. Treatment for OCD includes drugs like antidepressants, and psychological therapy, particularly cognitive behaviour therapy. Researchers from the Mandala Clinic in New South Wales, Australia, conducted a systematic review of randomised OCD trials to compare the effectiveness of psychological treatments to the usual drug treatment. They found 8 studies, which together suggested that cognitive and/or behaviour treatment was better than the usual drug treatment for reducing OCD symptoms. Specifically, the pooled data showed that patients receiving any form of cognitive behavioural therapy had significantly fewer obsessive-compulsive symptoms after treatment than subjects receiving the usual treatment. Psychological treatment was also effective in reducing the severity of depression and anxiety symptoms. There were no differences observed between individual and group therapy in terms of symptom improvement.
The Cochrane Library,
April 2007