I don’t think anyone will find this surprising…

NIMH: Half of Adults With Anxiety Disorders Had Psychiatric Diagnoses in Youth
Half of Adults With Anxiety Disorders Had Psychiatric Diagnoses in Youth

Though I found this interesting;

“Adults with obsessive-compulsive disorders tended to have had delusional beliefs and hallucinations as children.”

Don’t most children have delusional beliefs? Maybe not. I sure did. But then I clearly had a form of OCD back then (scrupulosity). I don’t recall having hallucinations. Well there was that time I was really ill. I was about 4 or 5 and had extremely vivid hallucinations over a period of several days. Some were terrifying, some were entertaining. I remember them all. I had a doctor once theorize that what I was sick with was actually polio. I don’t know about that. I do have, apparently, a uh, distinctive, gait when I walk. I have often wondered if what I had was not PANDAS. It seems to fit and it was right around then that I started having what in retrospect was OCD.

CNS Spectrums: Neurobiology of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Serotonin and Beyond
Neurobiology of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Serotonin and Beyond

While it is generally accepted that serotonin plays in role in our OCD what that role is, is unclear. And the evidence for it playing a role can best be described as circumstantial i.e., SSRI’s work for the majority or people with OCD and other medications don’t. This study looks at serotonin and other neurotransmitters, in particular dopamine.

There are a couple of things in the study that gave me pause. One was the phrase, “habitual indecision” and “pathological indecisiveness” in people with OCD. And while it may be a function of the relatively narrow focus of my OCD, I just don’t see indecision as being part of me. Just the opposite in fact. I am very decisive. Acting out some of my decisions might be impacted by a reluctance to do something because it will trigger OCD. But generally it doesn’t stop me. I do see that(indecisiveness) in some of the people I know with OCD but I have always assumed it was because of the content of their OCD. I am going to have to think about this some. I sure never thought about that as a factor of the OCD itself.

Arch Gen Psychiatry — Abstract: A Genetic Family-Based Association Study of OLIG2 in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, February 2007, Stewart et al. 64 (2): 209

This study is a little out of my paygrade, in terms of translating it to English. But it was looking at the genes associated with the production of “white matter” in the brain. There are abnormalities in that matter in those of us with OCD.

As always it’s good to see the research continues.