Meng Zi Jie Aaron
Ministry of Health Holdings, Singapore
Title: Olfactory reference syndrome- A case report
Biography
Biography: Meng Zi Jie Aaron
Abstract
Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) is an interesting psychiatric condition which is characterised by a preoccupation that one emits body odour, 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 odour, which seemingly worsened after his mother had passed away. He was found to have significant anxiety and coped with safety behaviours 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.