Obsessive-compulsive behavior, DSM-III, and a psychodynamic classification of psychopathology.

This paper reviews obsessive-compulsive behavior, both neurosis and character, and relates these to DSM-III, as well as to a psychodynamic classification of psychopathology. The DSM-III obsessive-compulsive disorder and the classical obsessive-compulsive neurosis are found to be very similar descriptively. In contrast, the DSM-III compulsive-personality disorder is found to be a much more psychopathological entity than the classical obsessive-compulsive character.