Olfactory Obsessions: A Study of Prevalence and Phenomenology in the Course of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Olfactory obsessions (OOs) are rarely described in the medical literature. The features of OOs appear consistent with characteristics of a typical obsession, but since they do not involve the realm of thought, it is questionable to term them obsessions per se. Olfactory Reference Syndrome (ORS) presents OOs inconsistently and is a distinctive diagnostic category related to OCD. Therefore, the primary objectives of our study were not only to assess the prevalence of OOs in OCD patients, but also to demonstrate their phenomenological consistency with other OCD symptoms. The study group consisted of 75 patients already diagnosed and treated for OCD. Hence, a comparison was made between OCD patients with and without OOs in terms of: symptom severity, level of insight and comorbidities. Olfactory obsessions (OOs) were found in 21.33% (n = 16). OOs induced compulsive behavior in more than 93% of subjects. The presence of OOs did not significantly differentiate the studied groups in terms of OCD severity (p = 0.876), level of insight (p = 0.680), depression (p = 0.746), mania (p = 0.525) and OCDP traits (p = 0.624). However, a comparison of the two groups showed that OOs patients presented higher levels of hostility (p = 0.036), cognitive impulsivity (p = 0.039), magic-type obsession (75% vs. 35.59%), and contamination obsession (87.50% vs. 67.80%). Conclusions: OOs frequently occur in the course of OCD, and their phenomenology is typical of this disorder. OOs are not a symptom of thought content disorders and are sensory in nature, which is not included in the definition of obsession. The presence of OOs in OCD provokes hostility and cognitive impulsivity. It can be assumed that the Olfactory Obsessions Questionnaire accurately identifies olfactory obsessions.

Sense of happiness and other aspects of quality of life in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Introduction: Quality of life (QoL) is the intellectual and emotional wellbeing of an individual, which is determined by many factors. The most measurable are the sense of happiness, occupational satisfaction, quality of interpersonal relationships and sex life. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental disorder diagnosed by the presence of obsessions and compulsions that disrupt normal psychosocial functioning. Despite early onset, treatment is delayed (OCD-DTI) and unsatisfactory. Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to assess selected correlates of the sense of happiness among patients with OCD. The secondary objective is to compare the sense of happiness with healthy people. Methods: Seventyfive OCD patients and equal number of healthy subjects were compared using a Polish adaptation of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ-23). Results: We found a significant negative correlation between sense of happiness and the severity of OCD (r = -0.479), the number of obsessive-compulsive personality traits (r = -0.323), the number of other comorbid mental disorders (r = -0.272), the level of aggression (r = -0.448), impulsivity (r = -0.301), depressiveness (r = -0.357), and the sexual dysfunctions (r = -0.279). The latter were much more common in individuals with OCD compared to healthy subjects (66.67 vs. 12%). The level of loneliness was over two times higher in the study group compared to controls (27 vs. 12%). The mean delay in treatment onset was 13 years. Conclusions. Assessment of aspects of QoL should be an integral part of the diagnostic and therapeutic process in OCD.