"Where did you get your information?": Phenomenological Research of the Illness Experiences of People with "Pure" O Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Conference Year

January 2021

Abstract

This thesis project explores whether the ways in which obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is portrayed in the media and described in educational literature might hinder diagnosis for individuals with primarily obsessional (“Pure-O”) OCD, a rarer form of OCD. Through survey and interviews, the proposed research will investigate individuals’ experiences of realizing their condition and accessing effective treatment. It will exam various socio-cultural factors that determine access to resources and how relatively-new internet chat groups, which offer the ability to freely discuss with like-minded individuals, have affected their experience of their illness.

Primary Faculty Mentor Name

Deborah Blom

Secondary Mentor Name

Jeanne Shea

Faculty/Staff Collaborators

Deborah Blom (undergraduate thesis advisor) & Jeanne Shea (undergraduate secondary thesis advisor)

Status

Undergraduate

Student College

College of Arts and Sciences

Program/Major

Anthropology

Primary Research Category

Arts & Humanities

Abstract only.

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"Where did you get your information?": Phenomenological Research of the Illness Experiences of People with "Pure" O Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

This thesis project explores whether the ways in which obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is portrayed in the media and described in educational literature might hinder diagnosis for individuals with primarily obsessional (“Pure-O”) OCD, a rarer form of OCD. Through survey and interviews, the proposed research will investigate individuals’ experiences of realizing their condition and accessing effective treatment. It will exam various socio-cultural factors that determine access to resources and how relatively-new internet chat groups, which offer the ability to freely discuss with like-minded individuals, have affected their experience of their illness.