Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:55:21.749Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Phenomenology of Severe Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

J. H. Dowson
J. H. Dowson*
Affiliation:
Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon and Seymour Clinic, Kingshill Road, Swindon, Wiltshire; University of Edinburgh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The case histories are examined of 41 patients who were admitted to hospital for the first time with a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive neurosis. Aspects of the phenomenology are reported which presented between the first appearance of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and discharge from the first admission.

The mean age for admission was 31·6 years (SD 14·3) and 68 per cent of the sample were women. The women showed significantly higher incidences of contamination phobia and of compulsive cleaning behaviour than did the men. Cleaning behaviour and avoidance of feared stimuli were the most frequently encountered manifestations of compulsive behaviour.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 131 , Issue 1 , July 1977 , pp. 75 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1977 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

A Glossary of Mental Disorders (1968) Studies on Medical and Population Subjects, No. 22. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Akhtar, S., Wig, N. N., Varma, V. K., Pershad, D. & Verma, S. K. (1975) A phenomenological analysis of symptoms in obsessive-compulsive neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 342–8.Google Scholar
Beech, H. R. (1974) Approaches to understanding obsessional states. In Obsessional States (ed. Beech, H. R.). London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Goodwin, D. W., Guze, S. B. & Robins, E. (1969) Follow-up studies in obsessional neuroses. Archives of General Psychiatry, 20, 182–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marks, I. M. (1970) The classification of phobic disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 377–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siegel, S. (1956) In Nonparametric Statistics, New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Walker, V.J. (1973) Explanation in obsessional neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 123, 675–80.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.