An experiment on obsessional checking

An experiment was carried out on 12 patients complaining of obsessional checking rituals in order to determine whether: (a) the execution of potentially ‘harmful’ acts produces discomfort and (b) whether the act of checking produces relief. With some exceptions and reservations, it was concluded that execution of the act does produce discomfort and completing a check does bring relief. The results are seen as providing some support for theories which depend on the concept of anxiety reduction/avoidance.