< Back to Contents
Obsessions, compulsions span decades
A 40-year study finds that people diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder often do better over time without any treatment, although they rarely achieve full recovery.
References:
Price, L.H. 1999. The natural history of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 56(February):131.
Skoog, G., and I. Skoog. 1999. A 40-year follow-up of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 56(February):121.
Sources:
Lawrence H. Price
Brown University School of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
345 Blackstone Boulevard
Providence, RI 02906
Gunnar Skoog
Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Department of Psychiatry
S-41345 Göteborg
Sweden
Ingmar Skoog
Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Department of Psychiatry
S-41345 Göteborg
Sweden
From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 9, February 27, 1999, p. 135. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.