Pregnancy can affect women in many different ways.  A new study suggests that pregnancy can initiate or worse symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Obsessive-compulsive disorder currently affects over two million adults in the U.S.

Researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine interviewed 126 women who had been treated for obsessive-compulsive disorder.  They found that 24 of the 78 women who had been pregnant (about 32 percent) experienced their first symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder during pregnancy or during the post-partum period.  In addition, among those with preexisting obsessive-compulsive symptoms, one third of women experienced worse symptoms during pregnancy.  The effects were worst for women who typically experienced more symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder during the premenstrual period.

Common symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder that worsened during or after pregnancy include fear of contamination from dirt and germs as well as distress about the baby's well being.  The study found that 67 percent of women who developed obsessive-compulsive disorder during or after pregnancy suffered from such fears compared to 36 percent of women who did not show pregnancy-related onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

According to researchers, the results of this study suggest that there is a hormone-related type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that affects certain women.  They theorize that such women may have a differential sensitivity to reproductive hormones, which trigger symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  The reason for this increased sensitivity is unknown at this time; however, it may be related to differences in the genes that regulate reproductive hormones or in the genes that are regulated by such hormones.

Experts encourage women to discuss their past problems with obsessive-compulsive disorder before they plan on becoming pregnant if possible.  Healthcare professionals should also make women more aware of the link between pregnancy and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Additional studies will be needed to more closely uncover the relationship between pregnancy and obsessive-compulsive disorder.