Previously submitted to: JMIR Mental Health (no longer under consideration since Apr 18, 2025)
Date Submitted: Apr 16, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 18, 2025 - Apr 18, 2025
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A Multidisciplinary Mind-Body Intervention for Comorbid OCD and Depression: Outcomes from a Clinical Setting
ABSTRACT
Background:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a complex psychiatric condition affecting over 3 million adults in the United States, often accompanied by comorbid depression, anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, and sleep disturbances. Traditional treatments, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), fail to provide adequate relief for up to 40% of patients, largely due to a lack of attention to the disorder’s physiological dimensions. With less than 10% of patients accessing first-line care such as Exposure and Response Prevention (EXRP), there is a critical need for integrative, accessible, and individualized treatment frameworks.
Objective:
To address these critical treatment gaps—both in clinical outcomes and systemic care delivery—the present study evaluates a real-world, clinic-based intervention designed specifically for individuals with comorbid OCD and depression.
Methods:
This study evaluated a personalized, multidisciplinary intervention combining EXRP, mindfulness-based therapy, expressive writing, cognitive restructuring, and targeted lifestyle modifications. Forty participants (ages 17–51) received treatment ranging from 2 to 21 weeks (mean = 6 weeks) at an intensive outpatient clinic. The intervention was administered by a collaborative team of therapists, physicians, and specialists in endocrinology, gastroenterology, and psychiatry. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D), and the Willoughby Fear Survey Schedule. Subgroup analyses were conducted by sex and age.
Results:
Participants demonstrated significant improvements in both mental and physical health outcomes. On average, Y-BOCS scores decreased by 57.2%, with 82% of participants achieving reductions greater than 50%. Depression symptoms declined by 53.7%, and fear-based symptoms (Willoughby) dropped by 50.97%. These improvements were consistent across age and sex groups. Adolescents (ages 10–19) exhibited the greatest relative gains, while self-reported reductions in sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal distress, and tinnitus further underscored the intervention’s physiological benefits.
Conclusions:
This study affirms the clinical value of a mind-body treatment model for OCD and comorbid conditions. Writing-based interventions, when embedded within a multidisciplinary framework, effectively reduced obsessive-compulsive and depressive symptoms across age and sex groups. The holistic approach not only enhanced emotional regulation and cognitive processing but also improved physical symptoms often overlooked in standard OCD care. These findings support the scalability of integrative care models that address both psychological and physiological health, offering a blueprint for modernizing OCD treatment. By bridging mind-body interventions with individualized care, this approach holds promise for broader implementation in real-world clinical settings.
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