Similarities Between OCD And Psychopathy (What is the Connection Between Psychopathy and OCD 2018)

I've always noticed a few things about OCD. I know many people with the disorder - and I'm not talking about just OCD "traits". 

1. That OCD-Type behavior seems to co-occur with reduced 'normal' Emotions in the Person affected.
2. That people with 'extreme' OCD are so Belief oriented, that they will sometimes put off immensely important tasks/priorities or if not under Control/Treatment may even indulge it to the point where it becomes dangerous - either to themselves and (realistically) their Health or - to others.
3. That people with mainly Compulsive aspects of OCD *do* often have restricted affect and sometimes Low Empathy.

Some of these tendencies also happen in Psychopaths [!].

1. That is the reduced 'normal' expression of Emotions [1].
2. Restricted affect (sometimes) [2].
3. The Low Empathy being a key* signature of Psychopathy [3].
4. ...and sometimes also being present in OCD (study).
5. The Belief-Oriented and indirectly, 'by any means' mentality is often a habit picked up by Psychopaths, as well.
6. ...Even if the Belief is "felt less".

So...what are the STRUCTURAL and NEUROCHEMICAL similarities between Psychopaths and people with CONFIRMED/DIAGNOSED OCD???

1. Both people with OCD [4] and people with Psychopathy [5] on complex Brain Imaging tend to show (in a majority of Patients) - Cortical "Thinning".
2. This refers to reduced literal thickness of the layers of the Cerebral Cortex in Mammals; including Humans [6].
3. ...However, it frequently is used erroneously to describe reduced Brain Volume - which is incorrect both because Brain Volume normally means 'global' or Total Brain Volume (TBV) but also because there are other descriptors needed to understand the concept of Brain Volume and its relation with various Brain Disorders.
4. In that - we mean that White Matter, Gray Matter etc can have totally opposite alterations and different properties exhibited between different Brain Disorders.
5. So specifics are always helpful - and using terms that aren't actually inter exchangeable and without proper correction can lead to of course, confusion - as such has even happened in some Study Publications, unfortunately.

In addition, Serotonin Transporters and Genes for them are frequently abnormal in both OCD and Psychopathy.

1. "Long-Type" Serotonin Transporters, usually homozygotes (having one Long from each Parent) are a frequent finding in Psychopathy [7].
2. ...And in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder [8].
3. Typically, having two-long Serotonin transporters leads to reduced connectivity between Brain Regions involved with Emotion Processing [9] and can lead to 'greater' hormone-responses to Serotonin [10] possibly reflecting 'supersensitive' serotonin-receptors [11].
4. Supersensitive serotonin receptors themselves, have been shown to be a factor in severe OCD [12].

LEVELS OF SEROTONIN ARE ABNORMAL IN BOTH OCD & PSYCHOPATHY; CAN BE HIGH OR LOW OR FLUCTUATE TOO FREQUENTLY

1. Elevated Serotonin levels can occur in OCD [13] as well as Psychopathy [14] - particularly in cases where predominant traits are "Callous-and-Unemotional" versus impulsive aspects. Reactive Aggression and provoked Aggression seem to occur in greater intensity and frequency in individuals with HIGHER Serotonin, ironically [15].
2. It would seem then, that Serotonin may play a facilitating role in Aggression when there is a purpose to the Aggression, either in self-defense or in objective-oriented Behaviors [16] which is also consistent with Animal Research Experiments [17]. See "Challenge Review Here".

***SOURCES/REFERENCES***

Serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms & obsessive-compulsive disorder. (NIH/PubMed)

Serotonin Transporter Gene Associations with Psychopathic Traits in Youth Vary as a Function of Socioeconomic Resources. (NIH/PubMed)

Serotonin, genetic variability, behaviour, and psychiatric disorders - A Review. (NIH/PubMed)

Psychopathic Traits Mediate the Association of Serotonin Transporter Genotype and Child Externalizing Behavior. (NIH/PubMed)

Long story short: the serotonin transporter in emotion regulation and social cognition. (NIH/PubMed)

Psychopathy and arousal: a new interpretation of the psychophysiological literature. (NIH/PubMed)

Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eyes of emotional faces among adult male non-offenders. (NIH/PubMed)


Facial responsiveness of psychopaths to the emotional expressions of others. (NIH/PubMed)

Disrupted neural processing of emotional faces in psychopathy. (Social Cognitive & Affective NeuroScience/Acadamic.OUP)

Association of a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene with abnormal emotional processing in ecstasy users. (NIH/PubMed)

In/Tags: connection between psychopathy ocd 2018, similarities between ocd and psychopathy, ocd and psychopathy, ocd and psychopathy 2018, ocd psychopath connection 2018, brain chemistry ocd antisocial personality disorder