Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia: A Phenomenological Perspective of Shared Pathology

Research evidence attests to the parallel similarities and the reciprocal nature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) in such a manner that OCD and SCZ may progress into one another. We explore this evidence by presenting a theoretical and empirical phenomenological perspective to account for and elucidate the shared psychopathology of thought, perception, and motor impairment between these disorders. The purpose of this paper is to communicate that OCD and SCZ, while preserving their individuality, share related accounts of their phenomenology within a temporal and spatial frame of reference.