Efficacy of Distress Tolerance techniques of Dialectical Behavior Therapy in patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Randomised Control Trial study

In the current scenario, there is a trend towards a more integrative or multi-dimensional approach which takes a step forward from focusing only on pathology and illness to health, wellness and strengths of the individual as per the WHO‘s model so that personal growth can be achieved. Especially there is an increasing interest in third-wave psychotherapy which tends to reformulate and synthesize previous generations of behavioural and cognitive therapy and carries them forward into questions, issues, and domains previously addressed primarily by other traditions, in the hope of improving both understanding and outcomes. However, there is a scarcity of such published studies investigating the role of particular components of these interventions on various disorders. Further, DBT has been studied exclusively with persons with Borderline Personality Disorder and with successful trials in substance abuse, eating disorders and depression. Moreover, there is a dearth of studies on another group of disorders, especially in the anxiety spectrum. Though, the potential interaction of Distress tolerance and the development of obsessive compulsive symptoms have been investigated which implicated the need to reduce distress experienced in patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder bearing its effect on symptom reduction. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, there is no such study that has tried to further explore this relationship using any psychological intervention. In India, research on Dialectical behaviour therapy or any of its techniques remains in its infancy with limited work looking into the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of this therapy. Thus, it was found important to investigate the impact of the Distress tolerance technique of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) on these mechanisms in a clinical sample. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt will be made to examine the effects of Distress Tolerance Technique of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy on adult patients diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder.