Turkish Journal of Psychiatry

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Is Olfactory Reference Syndrome a Diagnostic Entity Under Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders?: A Case Report Diren BEZEK ÖZSOY, Erhan ERTEKİN, Raşit TÜKEL 2021 32(2): 142-144
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Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) is a rare psychiatric condition
involving embarrassment and distress due to persistent mental
preoccupation with the idea of emitting body odours foul and offensive
enough to disturb others. This disorder is often accompanied by shame,
embarrassment, significant distress, avoidance behavior, social phobia
and social isolation. The patients may worry that they spread odours
originating from their mouth, sweat, genital areas or the gut. This
belief may lead the patients to misinterpret the behaviours of others,
they may frequently smell themselves, shower and change clothing
during the day. There are differences of opinion whether ORS should
be considered as a delusional disorder or appear in under the rubric of
obsessive-compulsive related disorders. One of the reasons that create
this uncertainty is the variation in the response to different treatments.
The treatment strategies generally include the use of antipsychotics,
the antidepressants, they are preferentially used in combination. In this
report we aimed to discuss the case of a 33-year old male patient whose
first complaints had been diagnosed 14 years prior, with a diagnosis
of OCD with low insight. Shortly after improvement of the OCD
symptoms he developed ORS symptoms. We aimed here to discuss the
place of ORS in the diagnostic systems with reference to this case.