We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
An evolutionary hypothesis for obsessive compulsive disorder: a~psychological immune system?
- Authors
Abed, Riadh T.; de Pauw, Karel W.
- Abstract
A new hypothesis is presented within the framework of evolutionary psychology that attempts to explain the origins of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is suggested that obsessions and compulsions originate from the overactivity of a mental module that the majority of humans possess and has the function of generating risk scenarios without voluntary intervention. It is hypothesised that obsessional phenomena function as an off-line risk avoidance process, designed to lead to risk avoidance behaviour at a future time, thus distinguishing it from anxiety and related phenomena as on-line emotional states, designed to lead to the avoidance of immediate and direct risks. Finally, the hypothesis makes a number of specific predictions that are testable and refutable. It is contended that the present hypothesis if supported by empirical evidence could serve as a basis for future research on this important disorder.
- Subjects
OBSESSIVE-compulsive disorder; GENETIC psychology; NATURAL selection; POST-traumatic stress disorder
- Publication
Behavioural Neurology, 1998, Vol 11, Issue 4, p245
- ISSN
0953-4180
- Publication type
Article