Unlike many conditions, obsessive compulsive disorder cannot be diagnosed with a blood test or scan. Wayne Goodman, MD, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, explains how trained specialist diagnose OCD.
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The evaluation of OCD involves a clinical examination, really an interview by an experienced therapist. There is no blood test, there is no other labratory test for OCD although we have made progress in identifying some of the circuitry of OCD using brain imaging, it's not a diagnostic test, you still have to rely on the clinical judgement of an experience clinician.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental illness where frequent obsessive thoughts cause obsessive, destructive actions like hand-washing. Counseling and medications can help patients manage OCD.
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