{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]],"date-time":"2026-07-21T03:57:53Z","timestamp":1784606273983,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,30]],"date-time":"2024-03-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711756800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Obsessive\u2013compulsive disorder (OCD) is believed to follow a waxing and waning course, often according to environmental stressors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-existing OCD symptoms were reported to increase and to change from checking to washing behaviors, while new-onset symptoms were predominantly of the hoarding type. In the present study, we followed the evolution of OCD symptoms, anxiety, depression, and insights of illness in forty-six OCD patients throughout the pandemic. Clinical measures were collected at four different time points before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Within-subject comparisons were used to compare clinical scale scores across time, and correlations were examined between patients\u2019 baseline characteristics and changes in clinical scores. We found that all clinical measures increased during the first Italian lockdown with respect to the pre-pandemic values. Anxiety decreased during the temporary elimination of restriction provisions, whereas the severity of OCD symptoms and insight returned to pre-pandemic values during the second mandatory lockdown. These results were observed only in two sub-groups of patients: those taking benzodiazepines and those with shorter illness duration. Our findings suggest the need for additional clinical attention to these specific sub-groups of OCD patients in case of particularly distressing circumstances while pointing to a possible adaptive role of their OCD symptoms when the environment requires a higher care of hygiene and an extraordinary supply of essential resources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci14040338","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,31]],"date-time":"2024-03-31T13:39:37Z","timestamp":1711892377000},"page":"338","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Impact of Benzodiazepines and Illness Duration on Obsessive\u2013Compulsive Disorder during COVID-19 in Italy: Exploring Symptoms\u2019 Evolutionary Benefits"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5156-658X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giordano","family":"D\u2019Urso","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive, and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3834-6392","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alfonso","family":"Magliacano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, 50143 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-7840-334X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Manzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive, and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mattia Vittorio","family":"Pomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive, and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carla","family":"Iuliano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Cognitive Psychotherapy (SPC), 80100 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Felice","family":"Iasevoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive, and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bernardo","family":"Dell\u2019Osso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Bipolar Disorders Clinic, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA"},{"name":"\u201cAldo Ravelli\u201d Center for Nanotechnology and Neurostimulation, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"de Bartolomeis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive, and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112772","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbr.2020.112772","article-title":"Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Ritual Behavior","volume":"393","author":"Tonna","year":"2020","journal-title":"Behav. 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