A Study of Depression among Individuals Suffering From Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

OCD is the fourth most common psychiatric illness which is a chronic and heterogeneous condition that causes distress and compulsive rituals in individual. Psychiatric comorbidities are very common with OCD but there is a point of dispute about the depression. Some studies claim that depression is very common comorbidity with OCD where, others claimed that, there is no significant relationship between OCD and depression. However, it is also important to keep in mind that the close association between OCD and depression may also be related to common biological and psychological factors.  Materials and Method: 30 individuals diagnosed with OCD were selected from the Psychiatry Department of a Medical Institute in Haryana. They were explained the objectives and written informed consent was taken from them. The socio-demographic details were recorded using the semi-structured Performa. After recording the socio-demographic data of the individuals the diagnosis was made according to ICD-10’s guidelines thereafter Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive scale was administered to assess the symptoms and the severity of OCD, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale to assess the depression. Results: 10% patients had no depressive features, a majority of patients i.e. 46.7% had mild level of depression whereas 33.3% were having moderate level of depression and around 10% patients had severe level of depression. Conclusion: Findings of the study suggested that mild to moderate level of depression is commonly associated with OCD.