creators_name: Abed, Riadh T
creators_name: de Pauw, Karel W
editors_name: Mayes, Andrew
type: journalp
datestamp: 2000-12-19
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:27
metadata_visibility: show
title: An Evolutionary Hypothesis for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Psychological Immune System?
ispublished: pub
subjects: evol-psy
full_text_status: public
keywords: Darwinism, evolutionary psychology, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder
abstract: 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.
date: 1999
date_type: published
publication: Behavioural Neurology
volume: 11
publisher: IOS Press
pagerange: 245-250
refereed: TRUE
citation:   Abed, Riadh T and de Pauw, Karel W  (1999) An Evolutionary Hypothesis for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Psychological Immune System?  [Journal (Paginated)]     
document_url: http://cogprints.org/1147/1/ocd-final.htm