Journal of Psychiatry

Olfactory reference syndrome: A case report

27^th International Conference on PSYCHIATRY & PSYCHOLOGY HEALTH

June 18-19, 2018 Paris, France

Meng Zi Jie Aaron

Ministry of Health Holdings, Singapore

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Psychiatry

Abstract:

Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) is an interesting psychiatric condition which is characterized by a preoccupation that one emits body odor, which is not perceived by others. While anecdotally described as a discrete condition, its phenomenological overlap between anxiety and psychotic disorders poses a challenge in diagnostic classification. We present a case of a 19-year-old Chinese male who was referred through his gastroenterologist for having a fixed persistent belief of having an offensive body odor, which seemingly worsened after his mother had passed away. He was found to have significant anxiety and coped with safety behaviors which had become maladaptive with time. His excessive worries were also associated with psychotic symptoms of referential delusions and olfactory hallucinations related to flatulence. As in our case, the clinical picture of ORS may cross both anxiety and psychotic symptoms and warrants further review in the latest diagnostic classification manual.