Nursing Assignment: Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) from Cognitive and Behavioral Perspectives

NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Nursing Assignment
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1NURSING ASSIGNMENT
TAQ: 1
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is mainly guided by two different perspectives,
one of cognitive perspective and another one is the behavioural perspective. The main aspect of
the cognitive perspective of OCD is hypervigilance and memory problems. According to
Seefeldt et al. (2014), people with OCD suffer from the hypervigilant attention. Hypervigilant
attention means enhanced sensitivity accompanied with exaggerated intensity in the behaviour.
This generally brings an increased state of anxiety leading to exhaustion. Anxiety, arising out of
hypervigilance among OCD patients elicits contextual stimuli like emotional valence in the face.
The emotional valence in OCD group of individuals is expressed in the form of emotional
sensitivity like whenever they are forbidden from executing their compulsive traits, they either
become angry or sad leading to over-execution of few selected activities. Bradley et al. (2016)
conducted a study in order to understand the level of the hypervigilance among the OCD patients
through the application of the eye-tracking methodology. The results highlighted that people who
are suffering from the OCD are more prone to get affected with hypervigilance in comparison to
the OCS (obsessive compulsive syndrome). Any stimuli towards the anxiety lead to increase in
the hypervigilance. For example, Bradley et al. (2016) stated that highlighted anxiety among the
OCD cause enhanced state of sensory sensitivity along with exaggerated intensity of behaviour.
The exaggerated behaviour cause repeated execution of some act. OCD also leads to memory
problems like imbalance between the long-term and short-term memory processing. The
imbalance between the long-term and short-term memory shows deficits in the non-verbal, visual
and spacial memory however, the verbal memory remains unaffected (de Vries et al. 2014). The
lack of the visual or the non-verbal memory hampers the mental engagement with the other
people. Lack of mental engagement generates isolation leading to avoidance and compulsive

2NURSING ASSIGNMENT
rituals of over repeated habits. Klenfeldt et al. (2014) stated that the memory problems are more
among the older adults or elderly people who suffer from OCS or OCD. Both the conditions are
related to depression, poor mental functioning. Under poor mental function driven by the age
associated factor there occurs decrease in memory retention. Under the behavioural perspective
of OCD the main concern is lack of proper conditioning. McGuire et al. (2016) are of the opinion
that it is the behavioural nature of the people suffering from OCD that they have lack of
conditioning. Lack of proper conditioning means acquisition of fear and extinction. The fear
acquisition further helps in the promotion of the development of the severe symptoms where an
emotionally neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus) is combined with an aversive unconditioned
stimulus. This unconditioned stimulus of fear generates a mindset that the handle of door might
be contaminated or the fear of the contamination of the hands after few minutes, leading to the
development of the obsessive compulsion (McGuire et al. 2016). Harsányi et al. (2014) defined
the lack of condition under the perspective of behavioural-executive impairment. The behaviour
executive impairment increases a sense of compulsion. This compulsive attitude forces them to
execute the same action or report same phrase over and over again in order decrease their
apprehensive anxiety. Ludvik, Boschen and Neumann (2015) related the behavioural aspect of
condition of OCD with the Pavlovian conditioning (classical conditioning). Under this
behavioural state of mind, continuous stimulus is released in order to execution of certain
function. The intensity of this continuous stimulus is high among the OCD patients.

NURSING ASSIGNMENT
TAQ: 2
Perspecti
ve
Identify Key features of the
perspective and how they can be
used to explain OCD
Name the study within the
perspective
Strength of the study in terms
of data collection
Weakness of the study in
terms of data-collection
Biologica
l
The key features of the biological
perspective of OCD is guided by
three important factors, one is the
genetic factor, second is the
neurological factor and third is
the hormonal or the endocrine
factors. Problems in the neurones
leads to generation of repetitive
emotions processing or
processing of repeated acts like
washing of hands after within 1
minutes of intervals or managing
Harrison et al. (2013) conducted
study in order to study in order to
explain the association of OCD
with the brain’s corticostriatal
functions. The analysis the of data
from the recorded ventral and
dorsal striatal functional
connectivity and comparing with
linear regression analysis with the
patient’s scores on the Dimensional
Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive
Scale highlighted that pathological
The main strength of the study,
in terms of the data collection
is, Harrison et al. (2013)
collected data from 74 patients
of OCD while another 74
patients were taken as a
control. According to Marshall
et al. (2013), use of the
equivalent number of the
control of the placebo group
helpsto tally the results
properly and thereby helping
One of the limitations of
the study in the terms of the
data collection is its poor
sample size. The authors of
the study failed to access
the neurological influence
of the development of the
disease on several disease
sub-types due to poor
sample size (Harrisonet
al.2013).