Earlier this week we highlighted concerns that had been raised by our followers about two products being sold by a national retail outlet, The Range.  The two products, wall art saying (I have OCD, Obsessive Cake Disorder),  were considered inappropriate because they both trivialise the suffering of OCD, and perpetuate the misconceptions about OCD, which of courses adds to the stigma and fear of opening up that many people with OCD already face.

Following communication with the company from OCD-UK and feedback offered to the retailer by our supporters, we are encouraged that The Range have today (Wed 16th Aug) committed to respecting mental health conditions like OCD by the withdrawal of these two products.

Researchers at the University of Manchester have concluded that low intensity interventions in the treatment of OCD (prior to CBT), as recommended by NICE, do not have any clinical treatment benefits. 

It’s already known that the NICE (National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) guidelines for the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) recommend CBT (including exposure and response prevention) for the treatment and management of OCD using a stepped care approach.

Low intensity psychological interventions are proposed at lower steps (including brief individual CBT using structured self-help materials, brief individual CBT by telephone and group CBT), moving up to more intensive psychological and pharmacological interventions at higher steps, which in reality is what OCD-UK believe the majority of patients presenting for OCD treatment should be offered. There is some preliminary evidence that self-managed therapy packages for OCD can be effective, but the NICE guidelines highlighted the need for research in to the use of low intensity therapy for the treatment of OCD.

The OCTET (Obsessive–Compulsive Treatment Efficacy Trial), led by Professor Karina Lovell at the University of Manchester, emerged from a research recommendation in NICE guidelines, which specified the need to evaluate CBT treatment intensity formats.

Attendees of our 2015 OCD-UK conference in York may remember Professor Lovell explained that the study aimed to see if using a self-help approach (either a book or a computer program), supported for a short time by a mental health practitioner, would be better than waiting for CBT.

The key objectives of the OCTET research was:

Friend of OCD-UK, PhD student Chris Firmin was unable to get to our conference in Glasgow this weekend, so he asked us to share this little video message with you all...

Click the 'read more' link to watch the video message from Chris.

This study aims to investigate the impact growing up with a sibling who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has on sibling relationships both in the past and at the present time.  Through this study we hope to gain a better understanding of the possible effects there might be on a child who lives with a sibling with OCD.  By understanding any potential impacts better, we would hope eventually that better and more targeted support could be offered to families and siblings.

Can I take part?
We are looking for adults aged between 18 and 50 who had a sibling who experienced OCD during their childhood. For further information or to ask questions please contact researcher Claire Mason at: c.mason3@newcastle.ac.uk.

To take part in the study and for further information please click the read more link.

We would like to invite you to consider participating in a research study that aims to develop our understanding of categorisation in people who hoard.

Some people have profound difficulty in letting go of valued possessions. This difficulty can lead to rooms becoming disorganised over time so that the space is no longer usable nor recognisable. This can be referred to as a hoarding problem. It is proposed that people who hoard valued possession find it hard to sort items into categories. We are interested in exploring to see if there are any differences in how people who hoard categorise objects compared to people who don’t hoard valued possession in quite the same way.

For further information please click the read more link.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has many subtypes, including Mental Contamination, whereby feelings of dirtiness arise with no physical contact with a contaminant.  A lesser known subtype of Mental Contamination are Morphing Fears which are described as acquiring negative characteristics of somebody else. The overall aim of this study is to explore any links between Morphing Fear and Psychotic symptoms in the general population. 

About OCD and Morphing Fears
Morphing Fears are believed to be a rare sub-type of mental contamination within OCD.  It is a fear of physically "morphing" into somebody else by acquiring that persons negative traits.  It's very distressing and disabling for sufferers.  Those who have it tend to avoid making contact with, or even being in the same radius as, the person they feel they can morph into.  This is due to them having a fear that they can become contaminated by them or acquire their unwanted traits that the sufferer views as "undesirable".  Sufferers believe this can occur through physical contact and/or mentality.  

Not much is known about Morphing Fears but researchers are now in the midst of exploring it further, including the phenomena itself, how it can develop, how it can be treated and how it can be misdiagnosed as other mental illnesses.  What is known however, is that children can have Morphing Fears as well as adults although, it is more common in adults.  Research currently being conducted will increase the awareness of Morphing Fears and contribute to a deeper understanding about it.   Importantly, this will make professionals more aware of it, leading to a correct diagnosis and therefore, encouraging correct treatment plans to be sought. 

To take part in the study please click the read more link.

Trainee Clinical Psychologists Paul Watson and Jade Ingram, from Newcastle University are looking for people with OCD and their family members to take part in an online research study about why family members of people with OCD help out their relatives with their OCD behaviours (sometimes called ‘accommodation’). They are looking for people aged 18 or over to participate. 

Family members may help out their relatives with OCD in a number of ways including taking part in rituals and compulsions, helping relatives to avoid their OCD triggers and providing reassurance about OCD fears and beliefs. Research has found that it is very common for relatives of those with OCD to help out with their relative’s symptoms.

Paul and Jade are interested to find out more about your experiences of this helping behaviour and hope that this project will help us to understand more about family accommodation in OCD. It will help develop and contribute to further research into the assessment and treatment of OCD.

We are very keen to understand more from the perspectives of both those with OCD and their family members. Further details are provided within our study about how you can also invite your relative to take part.

For more information and to take part in the study, please click on the read more link.