creators_name: Abed, Riadh T creators_name: de Pauw, Karel W editors_name: Mayes, Andrew type: journalp datestamp: 2000-12-19 lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:27 metadata_visibility: show title: An Evolutionary Hypothesis for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Psychological Immune System? ispublished: pub subjects: evol-psy full_text_status: public keywords: Darwinism, evolutionary psychology, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder abstract: A new hypothesis is presented within the framework of evolutionary psychology that attempts to explain the origins of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is suggested that obsessions and compulsions originate from the overactivity of a mental module that the majority of humans possess and has the function of generating risk scenarios without voluntary intervention. It is hypothesised that obsessional phenomena function as an off-line risk avoidance process, designed to lead to risk avoidance behaviour at a future time, thus distinguishing it from anxiety and related phenomena as on-line emotional states, designed to lead to the avoidance of immediate and direct risks. Finally, the hypothesis makes a number of specific predictions that are testable and refutable. It is contended that the present hypothesis if supported by empirical evidence could serve as a basis for future research on this important disorder. date: 1999 date_type: published publication: Behavioural Neurology volume: 11 publisher: IOS Press pagerange: 245-250 refereed: TRUE citation: Abed, Riadh T and de Pauw, Karel W (1999) An Evolutionary Hypothesis for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Psychological Immune System? [Journal (Paginated)] document_url: http://cogprints.org/1147/1/ocd-final.htm