Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that causes high levels of morbidity and is commonly associated with long delays between onset of symptoms and access to diagnosis and treatment.
Objective: To address some of the key clinical questions about detecting and managing OCD from the general practice perspective.
Discussion: General practitioners play a crucial role in recognising OCD, in facilitating timely access to evidence-based therapies and providing ongoing follow-up and support. Exposure and response prevention, and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors have the strongest evidence for efficacy in patients with OCD.