Obsessive-compulsive disorder and rectal prolapse.
A 47-year-old woman with a long-standing history of obsessive-compulsive disorder relating to dirt and germs is presented. Her fear of developing bowel cancer led her to manually evacuate faeces from her rectum five times a day and to a resultant rectal prolapse. Treatment involved prolonged graduated exposure to the patient's feared contaminants and ritual avoidance. After 5 months of inpatient therapy, the patient reported a subjective 70% improvement in her symptoms. As her obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms improved, the patient's rectal prolapse disappeared.
Henry
Julian B
JB
Springfield University Hospital, London, UK.
Drummond
Lynne M
LM
Kolb
Peter
P
D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D003672:Defecation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D012005:Rectal Prolapse / Q000209:etiology*; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology