title: Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders: a critical review of the new diagnostic class.
abstract: The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes a new class of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) that includes obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and a handful of other putatively related conditions. Although this new category promises to raise awareness of underrecognized and understudied problems, its empirical validity and practical utility are questionable. This article reviews the phenomenology of OCD and then presents a critical analysis of the arguments underlying the new OCRD class. This analysis leads to a rejection of the OCRD classification on both scientific and logical grounds. The article closes with a discussion of the treatment implications of the OCRDs approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; email: jabramowitz@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Abramowitz
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Jacoby
mesh_terms: D057215:Body Dysmorphic Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D000067836:Hoarding Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D014256:Trichotillomania / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology
keywords: body dysmorphic disorder; excoriation; hair pulling; hoarding; obsessive-compulsive and related disorders; obsessive-compulsive disorder; trichotillomania