The overlap of obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia and its treatment

Both obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and social phobia are common in community and clinical settings, and it should be expected that a proportion of patients with one of these conditions will also fulfill either current or lifetime criteria for the other condition. However, comorbid social phobia is more common among patients with a primary diagnosis of OCD than is comorbid OCD in patients with a primary diagnosis of social phobia. This article explores the extent of the association of OCD and social phobia in epidemiological studies, and examines the possible role of underlying depression and other disorders in mediating the appearance of the comorbid condition. Although there have been no published randomized controlled trials in patients with this particular pattern of comorbidity, it seems sensible to adopt pharmacologic and psychologic treatment approaches which have been found efficacious in both OCD and social phobia. Pharmacologic management therefore centers on first-line treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Psychologic intervention should draw on the range of cognitive and behavioral approaches required for optimal outcomes in OCD and social phobia, as discrete conditions.