PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F Potocnik

Publications and source records attributed to F Potocnik.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Hoarding: a review.

BACKGROUND: Hoarding is currently categorized as a symptom of both obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. However, hoarding has also been documented in association with other psychiatric disorders, raising questions about the classification, psychobiology and treatment of these symptoms. This paper reviews the literature on hoarding. METHOD: A computerized literature search was done using the MEDLINE database. Relevant references were collated and were used to obtain additional literature on hoarding behavior. RESULTS: Although hoarding may meet DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for a compulsion, this symptom is also seen in a range of other disorders. Nevertheless, the phenomenology of hoarding remains under-researched. In addition, the psychobiology and treatment of hoarding remains relatively poorly understood, although in certain aspects there may be some overlap with the symptoms of OCD. CONCLUSIONS: Further research on the phenomenology, psychobiology and treatment of hoarding is clearly needed. A neuro-ethological view of hoarding as a spectrum symptom seen not only in OCD, but also in other disorders, may provide a useful heuristic for current clinical practice and for future empirical research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Use of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram in a possible animal analogue of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Canine acral lick dermatitis (ALD) has been suggested as an animal analogue of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A series of dogs with ALD or similar conditions were treated with citalopram, the most selective of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Six of nine (66.7%) dogs showed significant improvement. Given the apparent efficacy of citalopram in the treatment of OCD and related disorders, these data provide further evidence that ALD is a useful animal analogue of OCD.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Hoarding symptoms in patients on a geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit.

BACKGROUND: While collecting may be a normal behaviour, hoarding is a symptom of various psychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Although anecdotal reports suggest that hoarding is not uncommon in geriatric psychiatry populations, its psychopathological correlates in such samples have not been well characterised. METHODS: The presence of clinically significant hoarding symptoms was screened for in 100 consecutive patients in a geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit. Both patient and collateral histories were obtained. When hoarding symptoms were present, a detailed history of their phenomenology was obtained by means of a structured questionnaire and the response of hoarding symptoms to treatment during hospitalisation was monitored. RESULTS: Clinically significant hoarding was found in 5/100 subjects. Four of these 5 patients met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia (paranoid subtype), with onset of symptoms coinciding with increased symptoms of dementia. The fifth patient met criteria for bipolar disorder (manic episode), also had symptoms of dementia, and had a lifelong history of hoarding. Hoarding behaviours responded to antipsychotic treatment in 3 of the 5 patients. CONCLUSIONS: A history of hoarding may be useful in many psychiatric patients, but psychopathological correlates of this symptom are likely to vary with age. In a geriatric psychiatry inpatient population hoarding was associated not with OCD or OCPD, but rather with paranoid schizophrenia and increasing symptoms of dementia. Dopamine blockers appeared useful in decreasing hoarding in some patients, raising interesting questions about the neurobiology of this symptom.

Aged↗