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Letter to the Editor: Recent Advances in Research on Cognition and Emotion in OCD: A Review

  • Anxiety Disorders (DJ Stein, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Cognitive theories of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) ascertain that catastrophic (mis)interpretations of normally occurring intrusive thoughts are causal to the onset and maintenance of OCD. Recently, Calkins, Berman and Wilhelm have highlighted research validating the cognitive model. However, the current comment article stresses various findings that challenge basic premises of the cognitive theory. Moreover, a review of clinical studies investigating cognitive and behavioral therapies for OCD questions the added value of cognitive interventions over and above behavior therapy consisting of exposure and response prevention for this disorder. We suggest an alternative, potentially more useful route of investigation, stressing executive (dis)functions as the cause of OCD patients to (automatically) act on internal and external stimuli. We further suggest that dysfunctional beliefs proposed as paramount in the pathogenesis of OCD according to the cognitive model may be less important and specific than formerly believed.

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Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Prof. Avishai Henik for his useful comments.

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

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Conflict of Interest

Gideon E. Anholt and Eyal Kalanthroff declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer Sheva, 84105, Israel

    Gideon E. Anholt & Eyal Kalanthroff

  2. Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer Sheva, 84105, Israel

    Eyal Kalanthroff

Authors
  1. Gideon E. Anholt
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  2. Eyal Kalanthroff
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Correspondence to Gideon E. Anholt.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Anxiety Disorders

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Anholt, G.E., Kalanthroff, E. Letter to the Editor: Recent Advances in Research on Cognition and Emotion in OCD: A Review. Curr Psychiatry Rep 15, 416 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-013-0416-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-013-0416-x

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