Response to tranylcypromine and thought stopping in obsessional disorder.

A caseofobsessionaldisorder isdescribedin which a combination of tranylcypromine and thought stopping was effective in markedly reducing obsessional ruipinations. Thought stopping appearsto have had a major role in preventing relapseon withdrawal of the tranylcypromine. Isberg (1981) and Jemke (1981) have reviewed the literature regarding the response of obsessivecompulsivedisorders to monoamine oxidase inhibitors, the results of such treatment may be quite dramatic but there is a tendency to report positive results and not to report treatment failures. This account is a report of an interaction between two treatment modalities—tranylcypromine and thought stopping in obsessional disorder. Thought stopping is a behavioural technique which has been used in attempts to control or eliminate obsessional ruminations, and Beech and Vaughan (1979) have reviewed the outcome; they considerthat the evidence for its effectiveness is inconclusive since there have been few controlled trials. Moreover there is no standard technique; different authors have described the use of loud shouting, visual imagery or the snapping of a rubber band on the wrist as ways of interrupting obsessionalruminations.