DEFINITION
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a medical brain condition that causes errors in information processing. It is characterized by excessive, recurrent and repetitive worries, doubts and superstitious beliefs.

FACTS

• 1 in 50 adults currently has OCD
• 1 in 25 will have OCD at some point in their lifetime
• OCD afflicts about 3.3 million adult Americans
• Depression or other anxiety disorders may accompany OCD
• It strikes men and women in approximately equal numbers, first appearing in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood
• One-third of adults with OCD report having experienced their first symptoms as children.

CAUSES

• Abnormal functioning of brain circuitry, involving a part of the brain called the striatum.
• OCD is NOT caused by family problems or attitudes.
• Brain imaging studies, using a technique called positron emission tomography (PET), found that brain activity in an OCD sufferer differs from that found in people with other mental illnesses or no illness at all.
• PET scans show that in patients with OCD both behavioral therapy and medication produce changes in the striatum.

SYMPTOMS

• Symptoms may come and go, they may ease over time, or they can grow progressively worse
• Plagued, persistent thoughts or images
• Urgent, unwanted urge to engage in certain rituals

OCD and TMS

• Neuroimaging studies on OCD patients indicate hyperactivity in a circuit involving orbitofrontal cortex and basal ganglia.
• 10-20 slow frequency right SMA rTMS has been proven statistically significant reduction in OCD symptoms which were stable at 3 months post treatment
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