Shared obsessive-compulsive disorder : an Italian case report

Shared obsessive-compulsive disorder (S-OCD) has seldom been reported in the literature, whereas shared psychotic disorder has been described since the end of 19th century. The aim of this report was to describe a case of S-OCD in a married couple. A 38-year-old OCD patient, after several pharmacological trials, eventually improved when a combination of escitalopram and risperidone was prescribed. During his symptoms' remission, his wife started developing the same OCD symptoms. She was prescribed escitalopram, but, given her inconsistent compliance, it was difficult to obtain full effectiveness of the pharmacological treatment. The case showed several common features with S-OCD. Obsessions and delusions could be considered as extremes of the same spectrum - an option recognized by the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition within the "OCD with poor insight" category - and S-OCD could represent the continuum between OCD and psychotic conditions. Additional investigation is required to better understand psychotic and nonpsychotic shared disorders.