The Atypicality of Self-regulation in Obsessive-compulsive Personality Disorder

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) individuals, mainly exploring the neural and trait atypicality of OCPD, excessive regulation, and emotional dysfunction among OCPD patients. The etiology of OCPD has not been completely cleared out. From the psychoanalytic perspective, OCPD is caused by over-parental control during the childhood period, while the current biological theories suggest that genetic deficiencies are the main reason. Moderate self-regulation could help individuals control and balance their psychological state effectively. However, excessive self-regulation links with certain disorders such as OCPD. Findings in this review suggest that the neural mechanisms of OCPD patients are distinguished from healthy controls. Then, OCPD subjects would present overly pursuit of perfectionism and compulsivity. Finally, emotional dysfunction, which results in having difficulty in dealing with interpersonal relationship could be shown. So far, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is the most effective treatment of OCPD compared to others. The limitation of current research is not detailed because only the resting state of brain regions were tested. More research needs to be investigated to brain region associating with self-regulation tasks and tries to develop longitudinal studies among individuals who have the risk of OCPD. Additionally, more treatments like ACT of OCPD should be discovered and improved in the future.