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The Treatment of Severe, Chronic, Resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

An Evaluation of an In-patient Programme Using Behavioural Psychotherapy in Combination with Other Treatments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Lynne M. Drummond
Lynne M. Drummond*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE
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Abstract

This study examined 49 in-patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who were treated over three years. The patients had failed to respond to previous treatment. Treatment consisted of in-patient exposure, occasionally combined with other interventions individually tailored to the patient's specific difficulties. This resulted in significant clinical improvements and an average 40% reduction in rituals in 31 (63.3%) of these chronic patients. These gains were maintained at an average 19-month follow-up. Checking rituals were more likely to be associated with good outcome. Women had a later onset of the disorder and a slight tendency to better prognosis. No other predictors of outcome were found.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 2 , August 1993 , pp. 223 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

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