Digital mental health interventions for obsessive compulsive and related disorders: A brief review of evidence-based interventions and future directions

Abstract

Individuals with obsessive compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs), including obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder), excoriation (skin-picking) disorder, and hoarding disorder, suffer from distressing or impairing obsessive preoccupation and/or time-consuming compulsive behaviors. OCRDs are often severe, chronic, and associated with significant psychiatric comorbidity and functional impairment. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be efficacious for all the OCRDs. However, most individuals with an OCRD do not receive CBT, and of those who do, not all respond or respond fully to treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the chasm between those who need mental health care and access to clinical services. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have emerged over the past two decades as a solution to the access to care gap, and acceptance of digital solutions was catalyzed by the pandemic. DMHIs have the potential to address unmet mental health needs by offering scalable, low-stigma, cost-effective solutions. This paper reviews current evidence-based DMHIs for OCRDs and describes areas for future research.