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 "OCD can be an extremely debilitating condition for many people, but
the treatments are not always straightforward," said Baland Jalal, a
Cambridge University neuroscientist who was part of a team assessing
if rubber hands could be a potential new type of exposure therapy.
Traditional exposure therapy often involves instructing OCD patients
to touch contaminated surfaces, such as a toilet seat, and then to
not wash their hands. It aims to help patients control their fears
in a safe, managed environment but many find it too difficult and
cannot even begin therapy.
The Anglo-U.S. trial involved patients having a fake hand and
watching it being stroked until they developed a sensation that it
was their own. The rubber hand was then smeared with feces while
their real hand was dabbed with damp tissue to mimic the feeling of
feces touching their skin.
The patients were asked to rate their disgust and anxiety levels,
and the strength of the urge to wash their hands.
"Exposure therapy can be very stressful and so is not always
effective or even feasible for many patients," said Jalal.
"If you can provide an indirect treatment that's reasonably
realistic, where you contaminate a rubber hand instead of a real
hand, this might provide a bridge that will allow more people to
tolerate exposure therapy or even replace (it) altogether."
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Obsessive compulsive disorder is a psychiatric condition that
affects as many as one in 50 people worldwide. It can have a serious
impact on people's lives, mental health, relationships and ability
to hold down a job.
OCD comes in various types, one of which is characterized by severe
contamination fears – even from touching everyday things like
switches or door handles – leading to excessive washing.
Jalal said the results of the rubber hand study, which were
published on Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience, suggest fake hand contamination may help.
"The rubber hand illusion often makes people laugh at first, helping
put them at ease," he said. "It's also straightforward and cheap
compared to virtual reality, and so can easily reach patients in
distress no matter where they are."
(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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