Life-threatening obsessive–compulsive disorder precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic in an adolescent

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 has had massive mental health consequences worldwide. It has caused generalised fear and anxiety about catching, spreading and suffering from the virus. This article describes a fictionalised patient's presentation of life-threatening obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) associated with fears of catching COVID-19. The fears resulted in refusal to eat and drink, with subsequent weight loss that required paediatric admission. The scenario portrays the association between COVID-19 and life-threatening OCD symptoms and goes on to illustrate the patient's good response to standard OCD treatments.

Keywords

• obsessive–compulsive disorder
• COVID-19
• in-patient treatment
• children and adolescents
• exposure response prevention