Obsessive Compulsive Disorder The Serotonin and PANDA...

Imagine feeling like a slave in your own body; being forced to do ridiculous rituals and having constant compulsions to do things that you know don’t make sense. This is what it is like to live with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder [OCD]. In the United States alone, over 2 million people suffer from OCD (Parks, 2011, p.8, para. 3) and almost 1 in 100 children all over the globe (Kadaba, 2002). It affects people of all races, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds (Parks, 2011, p. 8, para. 2) but no one has found the cause of this disorder. Since its discovery and modern conceptualization, there has been an ongoing debate about whether OCD is caused by environmental factors or if it is inherited through genetics. Although there is valid†¦show more content†¦His findings were supported by Thomsen (1994), who found that the brain structure of 24 patients from OCD-like familial structures did not differ substantially from patients with severe mental illnesses. Even though the Adams and Thomsen studies raise a fair point, of all the studies done on the correlation of OCD and families, a majority of them support genetic transmission (Nestadt et al, 2010). Therefore, OCD is more likely to be caused by heredity and genetics than family structures. One of the more compelling theories of the cause of OCD is the serotonin theory. Two different theories based on serotonin are more prominent than the rest. Essau Petermann (2001) explains the theory by stating that OCD is caused from a lack of a chemical substance called serotonin (a neurotransmitter). Their version of the theory is supported by the use of drugs that increase the amount of serotonin in the brain which relieve many symptoms of OCD. On the other hand, Penzel (2000) describes the serotonin theory as a disrupted transmission of serotonin. When the serotonin is being returned to its vesicle chamber, the last step of neural-transmission takes place prematurely, which then causes a brain dysfunction and forms compulsions. Though both serotonin theories do not agree withShow MoreRelatedFlx Case Study6827 Words   |  28 Pagesnet 672 Current Alzheimer Research, 2014, 11, 672-680 Fluoxetine Improves Behavioral Performance by Suppressing the Production of Soluble -Amyloid in APP/PS1 Mice Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Cur- rent approaches for AD treatment only ameliorate symptoms. Therapeutic strategies that target the pathological processes of the disease remain elusive. Fluoxetine (FLX) is one of the most widely used antidepressants