Introduction
These are the approved guidelines published by the South African Society of Psychiatrists to provide an overview on treatment and management of commonly diagnosed psychiatric illnesses. The guidelines include consensus recommendations, based on peer contribution and using the international evidence based guidelines that are suitable for the local South African health service.
Please note that parts of this guideline may be out of date, an update will be published as soon as it is available.
This guideline focuses on the pharmacotherapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
OCD is characterised by obsessions and compulsions. A number of other disorders are also characterised by repetitive thoughts and rituals and may also respond to modifications of standard OCD treatment.
These so-called OCD spectrum disorders include body dysmorphic disorder (characterised by recurrent concerns with imagined ugliness), hypochondriasis (characterised by recurrent concerns with imagined illness), trichotillomania (characterised by recurrent hair-pulling), and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.[1] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition[2] has a new chapter on obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, which includes several of these conditions.