Christian Rück´s research group
Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and genetics
What causes psychiatric illness? What are their consequences? And how can you treat them? These are the main issues are groups tries to tackle. Our group has a strong interest obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCD, hoarding, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), hairpulling and skin-picking and olfactory reference syndrome). OCD is a rather common and often disabling disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and rituals (compulsions) that tend to ease the unpleasantness of the obsessive thoughts.
We develop and study new treatments. Internet-based CBT has been developed by our group for OCD and BDD and given the positive results it has been implemented in Sweden. International implementation is ongoing in several languages and countries. Other treatment development is ongoing for several other disorders and includes studies of exercise.
The genetics of OCD, tics, depression anxiety disorders is one of our main focus areas. We currently run several large-scale projects. For OCD related disorders we are studying the genetic architecture in a study at multiple clinics and also by self-referral via ocdgenetik.se and tourettesgenetik.se. Another area is the genetics of improvement, sometimes also referred to as therapygenetics (genetics of response to psychotherapy). And lastly, the microbiota is studied in OCD.
Links
Selected publications
D-Cycloserine vs Placebo as Adjunct to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Interaction With Antidepressants: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Andersson E, Hedman E, Enander J, Radu Djurfeldt D, Ljótsson B, Cervenka S, et al
JAMA Psychiatry 2015 Jul;72(7):659-67
Therapist guided internet based cognitive behavioural therapy for body dysmorphic disorder: single blind randomised controlled trial.
Enander J, Andersson E, Mataix-Cols D, Lichtenstein L, Alström K, Andersson G, et al
BMJ 2016 Feb;352():i241
Genetics of response to cognitive behavior therapy in adults with major depression: a preliminary report.
Andersson E, Crowley JJ, Lindefors N, Ljótsson B, Hedman-Lagerlöf E, Boberg J, et al
Mol. Psychiatry 2019 04;24(4):484-490
Enhancing group cognitive-behavioral therapy for hoarding disorder with between-session Internet-based clinician support: A feasibility study.
Ivanov VZ, Enander J, Mataix-Cols D, Serlachius E, Månsson KNT, Andersson G, et al
J Clin Psychol 2018 07;74(7):1092-1105
Full list at https://rucklab.com/publications/