OCD In Humans and Possible Connection with Canine Compulsive Disorders

[Alaska]

Scientists are studying Canine Compulsive Disorder in order to learn more about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in humans. Since effects of glutamate on the brain of the Compulsive Dogs have a connection to their compulsive behavior and what is going on in their brains to cause the compulsive behavior, it makes me wonder if it might be possible to find a canine equivalent for Autism.

Dosing the compulsive canines with human drugs like Prozac has met with some success.

It is easier to study dogs with a compulsive disorder and make connections between areas of the brain and their behavior. This is due to dog breeds. A researcher commented that if she studies dogs with CCD or Canine Compulsive behavior, she can look at four related breeds of dogs and compare anomalies in their brains with an unrelated dog breed. If the anomaly exists in the four related breeds, but not the unrelated breed, then it makes it more likely the anomaly is connected to the CCD. This makes it easier to identify brain areas likely to be connected with the CCD. Sometimes the affected brain area in the dogs gives information on similar connections with OCD in humans.

Naturally, since this is new research, there is still a lot of argument about what this research might mean for humans. I think it is great stuff and want to share the ideas and information with the many people on this site who will probably like to know about it also, since they are personally affected by OCD. I am wondering if there may be relevance for anybody who is on the Autism Spectrum, whether they have OCD or not. This is because people who are on the Autism Spectrum often also have OCD. It is not a given that brain areas associated with Autism are also associated with OCD, but it is a possibility worth looking into.

In case you want to find out more about this here is a link:

How do you treat a dog with OCD?

 

[Judge]

Fascinating. Equally amusing to me personally that I can so easily think of some of my OCD rituals and metaphorically refer to them as ways of "chasing my own tail".

Though in reality there's nothing funny about dealing with OCD if you have it.

I'd feel badly for dogs if they are capable of even the most primitive manifestations of intrusive and unwanted thoughts.

Each day when I shut the door behind me I lose most any trace of being on the spectrum. However my OCD follows me around like a puppy, 24 hours a day, seven days a week without fail.

 

[Alaska]

OCD does sound very difficult to live with. I already knew that, but did not have a sense of how bad a problem it can be, until I read the article about where amputation has sometimes been necessary in extreme cases of CCD.

A friend one time washed a bannister all night long so much that she scrubbed all the varnish off and she was not even using sandpaper. I figured she had a bad problem when she did that, but did not know what it was at the time.

I am not sure whether I have any manifestations of OCD or not. It can take me a while to process a lot of new information until I develop a sort of framework in my brain to store it efficiently. I am doing that about Aspergers right now and it might be a little while before I get ready to check for other stuff like OCD.

 

[Judge]

For me the worst about my OCD is to be acutely aware of it, and yet not be able to sufficiently overcome it. At best I'm just grateful that I've always been able for the most part to hide or mask it. Otherwise I suspect most people in my immediate orbit would probably shun me.

Though now living in virtual isolation, maybe that doesn't matter.

 

[Alaska]

They seem to be getting somewhere in finding out more about the brain areas involved in OCD by studying CCD. This means information about having an effect on it will probably follow and bring relief for you and others.

Spiritual based treatments can probably help now, like Reiki and accupuncture and accupressure.

 

[Butterfly88]

Interesting, I've never heard of CCD. I have OCD.