Intrusive thought
Antidepressants which have been shown to be effective in treating OCD include fluvoxamine (trade name Luvox), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa), and clomipramine (Anafranil). Although SSRIs are known to be effective for OCD in general, there have been fewer studies on their effectiveness for intrusive thoughts. A retrospective chart review of patients with sexual symptoms treated with SSRIs showed the greatest improvement was in those with intrusive sexual obsessions typical of OCD. A study of ten patients with religious or blasphemous obsessions found that most patients responded to treatment with fluoxetine or clomipramine. Women with postpartum depression often have anxiety as well, and may need lower starting doses of SSRIs; they may not respond fully to the medication, and may benefit from adding cognitive behavioral or response prevention therapy.
Anxiolytic
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of compounds typically used in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, OCD and some personality disorders. Primarily classified as antidepressants, most SSRIs have anxiolytic effects, although at higher dosages than used to treat depression. Paradoxically, SSRIs can increase anxiety initially due to negative feedback through the serotonergic autoreceptors. For this reason a concurrent benzodiazepine is sometimes used temporarily until the anxiolytic effect of the SSRI occurs.