Primary obsessional slowness

Although most examples of slowness observed in patients with obsessional disorders can be regarded as secondary to checking rituals, it is suggested that there is a real but rare dysfunction in which the slowness is primary. The proposal is supported by information from standardized interviews and small scale experiments on 10 obsessional patients who were severely handicapped by their slowness. Unsystematic results encourage the hope that this type of disorder is moderately responsive to a simple therapeutic programme of prompting, shaping and pacing.