A Hospital Based Prospective Study to Evaluate Positive Role of Religiosity and Guilt in Symptomatology and Outcome of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Abstract

Background: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by unwanted, repetitive and intrusive obsessions that are usually responded by compulsive behaviors to neutralize obsessions. People with religious OCD strongly believe in and fear punishment from a divine being or deity. Hence; the present study was planned and conducted for assessing the Positive Role of Religiosity and Guilt in Symptomatology and Outcome of Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderMaterials & Methods: A total of 50 subjects with presence of OCD were enrolled in department of Psychiatry at S.K. Government Medical College, Sikar, Rajasthan. Complete demographic and clinical details of all the subjects were obtained. Detailed history of all the subjects was recorded separately. All subjects voluntarily participated in this study and they were asked to complete the 4-scale self-report questionnaire (thought-action fusion questionnaire, scrupulosity questionnaire, feeling guilty questionnaire, and obsessive-compulsive scale). All the results were recorded in Microsoft excel sheet. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. Results: Correlation coefficient obtained while assessing the correlation of Religiosity and Symptomatology-Outcome of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder was -1.226 while correlation coefficient obtained while assessing the correlation of guilt and Symptomatology-Outcome of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder was -2.338. Significant correlation was obtained while correlating religiosity and guilty with Symptomatology-Outcome of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.Conclusion: Religiosity, spirituality, guilt and personal beliefs are important parameters of human experience and deserve greater consideration in the psychotherapeutic treatment of psychiatric disorders.