RELIGION, ETHNICITY AND OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is seen in many contrasting cultur es but it is not known if the form of the disorder varies between thes e cultures. There have been anecdotal case reports where religion appe ared to play a significant aetiological role in the disorder but the r elationship between religion and OCD has not previously been systemati cally studied. This study was a retrospective, casenote study comparin g the country of birth and religious affiliation of three groups of 50 patients. Its aim was to investigate the aetiological role played by religion in the development of OCD. The groups were patients with OCD from a specialist behavioural-cognitive unit, patients assessed in a s pecialist psychodynamic psychotherapy department and patients attendin g a general adult psychiatry outpatient department. More patients with OCD affiliated themselves with a religion as opposed to either of the other two groups. This difference disappeared when the type of religi on was taken into account so that no conclusive relationship between O CD and religion could be identified. The findings do not diminish the importance of religion in the development of OCD in some individuals a nd suggest that future research in this area should include examinatio n of the rigidity of upbringing and personal perception of the experie nce of strict rules or imposed religious practices.