"Would you tell me If i smelled bad?," 14-year-old Dylan diagnosed with olfactory reference syndrome: A case report.

TOPIC: Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) is a psychiatric condition that is not known to many psychiatric providers and yet it is thought to be far more common than generally recognized. Symptoms of ORS are disruptive, debilitating, and can severely impair the daily functioning of patients dealing with it.

PURPOSE: This article provides an overview of ORS and explores how it can be mistaken for other diagnostic constellations. A case report that details the treatment of a 14-year-old male illustrates how a clinician employs a multimodal approach to address symptoms that overlap with other diagnoses to successfully treat a patient with ORS.

SOURCES: Existing literature on the treatment of ORS and obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults, adolescents, and children and the clinical experience of providing care to a 14-year-old patient in an outpatient setting.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses and other healthcare providers should be made more aware of the symptoms, criteria, and diagnosis of ORS. Research needs to be increased to solidify ORS as a formal diagnosis and treatment recommendations are required to better treat this underserved population.