Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Free Will, and Control

In psychiatric literature obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is often linked to the issue of ‘control.’ More precisely, one of the views on OCD is that there is some ‘extra’ or ‘excessive’ control. In this paper, I turn to the philosophy of free will to get a different conceptual angle on OCD and its relationship to control. A line of thought that can be derived from the philosophy of free will suggests that OCD should not be considered as a condition of ‘extra’ control. In fact, OCD would be characterized by a decrease of control. I argue that this view, however open to debate, may have practical implications for therapy.