« Blog

Research has always played a key role in our work at the International OCD Foundation. We are committed to finding and promoting the most effective treatment methods for OCD and related disorders, making research a vital component of better understanding OCD and related disorders and improving treatment.

With these goals in mind, we’re excited to announce the launch of Spotlight: OCD News & Research Updates, a new blog series aimed at bringing you the latest in research news and information on OCD and related disorders. Each month, we’ll round up the biggest and most interesting news in the field of OCD research — from highlighting work by members of our Scientific & Clinical Advisory Board to the latest headlines in journals and popular media— this new series will serve as a useful, engaging update you’ll be excited to share with friends, family, and colleagues interested in learning more about OCD and related disorders. This new series will hopefully be a useful, engaging update you’ll be excited to share with friends, family, and colleagues interested in learning more about OCD and related disorders. This series will also include quarterly updates on body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, and pediatric OCD, beginning with this month’s research highlight on body dysmorphic disorder.

To receive a copy of this new series directly in your inbox each month, subscribe to our new “Spotlight: News & Research Updates” email here.

Making Headlines

OCD advocates and stories making news around the globe this month

17 Quotes That Prove OCD Is So Much More Than Being Neatmighty
The Mighty, October 2015

Written for OCD Awareness Week as part of a collaboration between The Mighty and the IOCDF, people with OCD seized the opportunity to share what OCD is really like, outside of often negative or inaccurate portrayals of OCD that tend to dominate news cycles.

Mental illnesses ‘not all in the mind’
Straits Times, October 2015

A study of mental illness literary by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in Singapore found that nine out of ten respondents believe that those with a mental disorder “could get better if they wanted to,” while half also saw mental illness as a sign of “personal weakness.” Researchers stress that this stigmatizing mindset often prevents people from coming forward to get treatment.

A moment that changed me — Charlize Theron’s boobs, my boyfriend, and OCD
The Guardian, September 2015

Rose Bretécher, author of a new memoir about her experiences with pure OCD, explains how her new boyfriend’s accidental discovery of her therapy homework actually revealed the surprisingly positive (and therapeutic!) sides of embarrassment.

SCB Showcase

Members of the IOCDF Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board (SCB) are among the best clinicians and investigators in the United States who treat and/or conduct research in the field of OCD and related disorders. Here, we recognize an SCB member whose work has recently turned heads in the scientific community or general public.

A Shocking Way to Fix the Brain
OCD SCB spotlight.
MIT Technology Review, October 2015

Darin Dougherty, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and the OCD Institute at McLean Hospital is featured in a recent MIT Technology Review article for his work treating OCD with electric stimulation.

OCD Research Corner

A monthly roundup of the latest in OCD research from scientific journals.

Understanding OCD: New Research Sheds Light on Best Treatment Options
Columbia University Medical Center Newsroom, October 2015

Even for people with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), cognitive-behavioral therapy outperforms anti-psychotic medication in some hard-to-treat patients, finds a recent study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Religious observance and obsessive compulsive washing among Iranian women JournalObsessive-CompulsiveRelatedDisorders_0
Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, October 2015

This study examined relationships between religiosity, scrupulosity, cognitive beliefs and OCD among Muslim women in Tehran. Findings have implications for models of OCD scrupulosity and for early diagnosis and treatment of OCD in the Muslim community.

Is a specific phobia of vomiting part of the obsessive compulsive and related disorders?JournalObsessive-CompulsiveRelatedDisorders_0
Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, October 2015

This study aims explore whether the phenomenology and co-morbidity of a specific phobia of vomiting (also known as “emetophobia”) might best fit within the group of obsessive compulsive and related disorders. Results have implications for future research into the classification and treatment of this condition.

IOCDF Research Resources

Find other research-related resources from the IOCDF, including:

For researchers:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *