Is There a Link Between OCD and Depression? (0:58)
Depression is a common complication of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In this WisePatient video, psychiatrist Wayne Goodman, MD, of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, reveals that a depression diagnosis may precede one for OCD.
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And there's definitely a link between OCD and depression. In most cases patients with OCD who present the treatment are doing so because they become depressed. And it behooves the clinician, we teach this to our residents to our trainees that if you have an individual presenting with symptoms of depression make sure you ask specific questions about OCD.
So in many cases depression becomes a complication of OCD, and that's understandable. That OCD begins to interfere with your life, take up a lot of your time, it's a source of anxiety and after a while they begin to wear you down and cause depression.
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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