Epidemiology and health care situation of obsessive-compulsive disorders

Obsessive-compulsive disorders are with a 12-month prevalence of up to 1% and a lifetime prevalence of 1-2% among the more common mental disorders. This is, however, neither reflected in the health care utilization of patients nor in the daily practice of psychotherapists, where obsessive-compulsive disorders still do not seem to play a major role. Due to feelings of shame, patients often tend to conceal their obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Furthermore, besides deficits in the health care situation for this disorder, treatment practice is not satisfying as well. Current guidelines recommend exposure and response prevention as the psychotherapeutic intervention of choice. Although this treatment has proved to be effective, it is still underutilized in psychotherapeutic routine care. Lack of experience or training on the part of therapists as well as insufficient information about the disorder and treatment possibilities on the part of patients contribute to the existing insufficient and inappropriate health care situation. Further education for therapists as well as more information for patients may help to sensitize them to this disorder and therefore increase the prognosis considerably.