Around 2% of the population struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD. That's roughly 163 million people who go through cycles of obsessions – unwanted intrusive thoughts, images or urges – and compulsions, or behaviors to decrease the distress caused by these thoughts. In movies and TV shows, characters with OCD are often depicted washing their hands or obsessing about symmetry.
Carolyn Rodriguez is a physician at Stanford studying OCD and the director of the Stanford OCD Research Lab . She says these are often symptoms of OCD, but they're not the only ways it manifests – and there's still a lot of basics we have yet to understand about it. In her time practicing medicine, she's seen many permutations of the condition, and has realized how often people with OCD, and even mental health care providers, may not recognize the symptoms.
Once patients are diagnosed, some won't respond to treatments like serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or exposure and response prevention. That's why Rodriguez looks to include more populations in research and find new ways to treat OCD, like ketamine. If you're interested in potentially participating in Dr.
Rodriguez's ketamine study, you can email ocdresearch@stanford.edu or call 650-723-4095. For more resources, check out her lab website and the International OCD Foundation .
Questions about the brain? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas! Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our w.