Quiz

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Statistics

  • OCD is a common psychiatric disorder, affecting approximately 2.2 million American adults each year.[1][2]
  • People with OCD often go several years without treatment.[3][4]
  • OCD has a detrimental impact on many factors of quality of life, including level of education, employment status, and financial independence.[5] No OCD medications have been shown to improve quality of life.
  • The total costs of OCD (direct plus indirect costs) were estimated to be $8.4 billion in 1990, which is 5.7% of the estimated $147.8 billion cost of all mental illnesses.[6] No OCD medications have been shown to affect the cost burden of OCD.

"I feel OCD is very under-diagnosed, because subtle symptoms that most people ignore as being 'quirky' could progress to more serious and debilitating OCD.

I feel totally different from other people around me. It's hard to hear the criticism about the actions I perform that are caused by my OCD. I feel embarrassed.

It would help more people who have the disease to know that they are not alone, to think about it rationally and ultimately to identify it and seek treatment earlier."

- Amanda O.

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References:

Get More Information on OCD

  1. ^ National Institute of Mental Health. The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. Available at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america.shtml. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  2. ^ Kessler RC, et al. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry. 2005;62:617-27.
  3. ^ Pinto A, et al. The Brown Longitudinal Obsessive Compulsive Study: clinical features and symptoms of the sample at intake. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2006;67:703-11.
  4. ^ Rasmussen SA, Tsuang MT. Clinical characteristics and family history in DSM-III obsessive-compulsive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1986;143:317-22.
  5. ^ Koran LM, et al. Quality of life for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1996;153:783-788.
  6. ^ DuPont RL, et al. Economic costs of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Medical Interface. 1995;8:102-9.

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