The role of lifestyle factors and lifestyle medicine in understanding and treating obsessive-compulsive and related disorders

Emerging evidence suggests that obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) and subclinical obsessive-compulsive phenomena are associated with lifestyle factors, increased physical illness and mortality. This thesis considers a range of lifestyle factors in combination and their relationship with OCRDs and related phenomena through cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. It also investigates the potential role for lifestyle interventions as adjunct treatments for OCRDs and examines the acceptability of lifestyle interventions for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder to guide future interventions and intervention co-design. Areas for lifestyle assessment and intervention for individuals with clinical and subclinical obsessive-compulsive symptoms are discussed.