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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Treated in Adolescence: 14 Long-Term Case Histories

Institute of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology Services at the Bethlem Royal & Maudsley NHS Trust Hospitals, spjtdeb{at}iop.bpmf.ac.uk

Michael Luckie

Community Mental Health Team in the North East Essex Mental Health Services Trust

Derek Steinberg

Ticehurst House Hospital Adolescent Unit

Fourteen young adults treated for obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescence, mainly though not only by behaviour therapy and family therapy, were followed up between nine and 14 years later. This is the longest follow-up period so far reported for obsessive-compulsive disorder treated in adolescence. Case histories show remarkable variability and unpredictability. Clinical implications include that a crucial focus for long-term care should be the effective management of relapse, that intensive behaviour therapy during adolescence may obviate the need for long-term maintenance pharmacotherapy and that the disorder should be treated vigorously at any stage with guarded optimism, notwithstanding previous treatment history.

Key Words: adolescence • behaviour therapy • long-term follow-up • obsessive-compulsive disorder

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