freud believed that the anal retentive character faced difficulties regulating the control of defecation, leading to repercussions by the parents, and it is the latter that would cause the anal retentive character. aubrey lewis, in his 1936 book problems of obsessional illness, suggests that anal-erotic characteristics are found in patients without obsessive thoughts, and proposed two types of obsessional personality, one melancholy and stubborn, the other uncertain and indecisive. in the book contributions to the theory of the anal character, karl abraham noted that the core feature of the anal character is being perfectionistic, and he believed that these traits will help an individual in becoming industrious and productive, whilst hindering their social and interpersonal functioning, such as working with others. ocpd was included in the first edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders in 1952 by the american psychiatric association under the name "compulsive personality". it was defined as a chronic and excessive preoccupation with adherence to rules and standards of conscience. other symptoms included rigidity, over-conscientiousness, and a reduced ability to relax. the dsm-ii (1968) changed the name to "obsessive-compulsive personality", and also suggested the term "anankastic personality" in order to reduce confusion between ocpd and ocd, but the proposed name was removed from later editions. the symptoms described in the dsm-ii closely resembled those in the original dsm. in 1980, the dsm-iii was released, and it renamed the disorder back to "compulsive personality disorder", and also included new symptoms of the disorder: a restricted expression of affect, and an inability to delegate tasks. devotion to productivity, perfectionism, and indecisiveness were the other symptoms included. the dsm-iii-r (1987) renamed the disorder again to "obsessive-compulsive personality disorder" and the name has remained since then. a diagnosis of ocpd was given when 5 of the 9 symptoms were met, and the 9 symptoms included perfectionism, preoccupation with details, an insistence that others submit to one's way, indecisiveness, devotion to work, restricted expression of affect, excessive conscientiousness, lack of generosity, and hoarding. with dsm-iv, ocpd was classified as a 'cluster c' personality disorder. there was a dispute about the categorization of ocpd as an axis ii anxiety disorder. although the dsm-iv attempted to distinguish between ocpd and ocd by focusing on the absence of obsessions and compulsions in ocpd, oc personality traits are easily mistaken for abnormal cognitions or values considered to underpin ocd. the disorder is a neglected and understudied area of research.