Successful Treatment of Bizarre Ritualistic Behavior With Serotonergic Medications

The study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of serotonergic medications on atypical Obsessive Compulsive (OCD) cases. The Global Assessment of Functional Scale (GAF) was used to evaluate the patients' mental condition. For many years 3 patients with bizarre ritualistic behavior received various kinds of diagnoses and treatments without success. The 1st patient had unusual slowness of initiation & movement and was kept alive by gastrostomy. The 2nd patient was very ambivalent and could not make decision and had 7 year unsuccessful treatment history. The 3rd patient had Tourette' syndrome. Her ritualistic behavior interferred her daily living. All 3 patients showed much improvement after 2 months of serotonergic medication treatment. Their GAF were changed from 30 to 60. They would be best classified as atypical OCD cases, i.e. obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders (OCSD). Most biological models of OCD center around the role of serotonin in pathophysiology. This model stems primarily from the finding that serotonin reuptake inhibitors are highly effective in the treatment of OCD & OCSDs.