%A Riadh T Abed
%A Karel W de Pauw
%J Behavioural Neurology
%T An Evolutionary Hypothesis for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Psychological Immune System?
%X A new hypothesis is presented within the framework of evolutionary psychology that attempts to explain the origins of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  It is suggested that obsessions and compulsions originate from the overactivity of a mental module that the majority of humans possess and has the function of generating risk scenarios without voluntary intervention.  It is hypothesised that obsessional phenomena function as an off-line risk avoidance process, designed to lead to risk avoidance behaviour at a future time, thus distinguishing it from anxiety and related phenomena as on-line emotional states, designed to lead to the avoidance of immediate and direct risks.  Finally, the hypothesis makes a number of specific predictions that are testable and refutable.  It is contended that the present hypothesis if supported by empirical evidence could serve as a basis for future research on this important disorder.
%K Darwinism, evolutionary psychology, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder
%P 245-250
%E Andrew Mayes
%V 11
%D 1999
%I IOS Press
%L cogprints1147

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