TITLE:
The Connection between Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury in Paediatric and Young Patients, Therapeutic Guidelines and New Therapeutic Approaches
AUTHORS:
Laura Ion
KEYWORDS:
Traumatic Brain Injury, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Cognitive Behavioural, Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy, NLP, Hypnotherapy
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.12 No.3,
March
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered,
worldwide, to be the leading cause of disability and mortality between the ages
1 and 45. In USA only, a report of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, mentioned that from 2006 to 2014,
the number of TBI-related emergency unit visits, hospitalizations and deaths
increased by 53%. In 2014, for example, an average of 155 people in the US died
each day from injuries that included a traumatic brain injury, no matter the
severity. Significant neurologic complications occurred after a traumatic brain
injury including seizures, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and cranial nerve
injuries. People may suffer from various psychiatric complications such as
depression, PTSD, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other cognitive
and behavioural disorders. Considering that, TBI may be regarded as one of the
significant public health burdens. This present study addresses the emergence
of OCD and OCD symptoms after TBI and the necessity of having an on target
therapeutic intervention plus the assessment of new therapeutic approaches,
with the purpose to support the practitioners during the rehabilitation program
of TBI patients suffering from OCD, focusing on the counselling and
psycho-therapy programs like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Rational Emotive
Behaviour Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy, NLP—yet, not
considered a therapy and Hypnotherapy Post-TBI emergent psychopathology,
especially obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is influenced by underlying subclinical
diathesis, brain injury lesions sites, environmental stressors and the
rehabilitation process including the attention paid to the depression period
that follows the TBI, where the intrusive thoughts, that are not
therapeutically approached, may turn later on into obsessive thoughts that
trigger compulsive behaviours. Along with that, the management of family,
friends, environmental stressors and the enhanced clinical identification of
symptoms after traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be used in the rehabilitation
process to improve prognosis and control the psychiatric complications.