Anxiety Sensitivity and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Mini Review

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the common psychological disorders that effects on the most aspects of individuals’ life. In this regard, various studies have been explored to examine underlying factors involved in the psychopathology of this disorder. One of these factors is the anxiety sensitivity (AS) that refers to the fear of anxiety-related sensation. AS can play a role in this disorder in various ways, such as fear of losing control of mental abilities, fear of somatic sensation, and sensitivity to the negative evaluation of others. On the other hand, dimensional models of OCD revealed that each phenotypes of this disorder is associated with different aspects of the AS. Finally, examination of existing treatments suggests that AS can be considered as an important therapeutic factor in the treatment of OCD.