Today, let's look at the OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE & RELATED DISORDERS CHAPTER. Here's what's included there, briefly summarized:
OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD). Requires presence of obsessions, compulsions or both. Obsessions are unwanted persistent thoughts, urges, or images which the client has attempted to neutralize. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing) that the client feels driven to perform.
BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER. Preoccupation with perceived defects in physical appearance that are not observable or appear slight to others.
HOARDING DISORDER. Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value.
TRICHOTILLOMANIA. Recurrent pulling out of one's hair, resulting in hair loss.
EXCORIATION (SKIN-PICKING) DISORDER. Recurrent skin picking resulting in skin lesions.
Those are the major diagnoses from the chapter. There are just five of them--easy to know. The rest of the chapter is taken with substance/medication-induced versions of the above disorders; disorders due to another medical condition; the "other" category, in which full criteria may not be met and the clinician opts for a more specific designation (e.g., "body-dysmorphic-like disorder with actual flaws" or
"obsessional jealousy"); and, finally, the "unspecified" category in which characteristic symptoms are presented but full criteria are not met.
Got it? Great. You're on your way to passing the social work licensing exam! Good luck!