BJPsych Bulletin (Oct 2023)

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

  • Ahrane Jayakumar,
  • Javier Sanchez-Cerezo,
  • Afshan Khayam,
  • Brigitte Spreeuwenberg,
  • Matthew Hodes

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2022.32
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 47
pp. 280 – 286

Abstract

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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.

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