Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Phenomena and the DSM-V Developmental Process

Abstract

Several of this month's articles and interviews touch on themes that relate to spectrum phenomena as well as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders developmental process.First, Darrel A. Regier, MD, MPH, director of the Division of Research at American Psychiatric Association, discusses, in an interview with CNS Spectrums, the developmental process for DSM-V. He emphasizes the use of dimensional measures to determine both thresholds for disorders, and to assess response to treatments. He also highlights a focus on spectra of disorders that cut across traditional diagnostic boundaries as one way to deal with issues of comorbidity. Finally, he discusses new approaches to the five DSM axes, and the need to link together the DSM and International Classification of Diseases processes. Three other articles in this issue also clearly relate to these obsessive-compulsive spectra issues.For example, Leonardo F. Fontenelle, MD, PhD, describes how, although much attention has been paid to patients who lack insight into their obsessional beliefs, less importance has been given to individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who display perceptual disturbances typically found in psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders, or mood disorders with psychotic features. The authors call attention to a phenomenon that has been neglected in the psychiatric literature (ie, the occurrence of hallucinations and related phenomena in patients with OCD). They describe five patients with OCD with hallucinations in several different sensory modalities, including the auditory, the visual, the tactile, the olfactory, and the cenesthetic modalities, and suggest that further psychopathological research should clarify the clinical significance of hallucinations among patients with OCD.