Again and Again
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Web Sites
On This Page |
On Separate Pages |
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First of All
Where would we be without NIMH?
The experts speak at
Expert
Consensus Guidelines:
- "Treatment of
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" is a collection of guidelines,
presented in tables and text, for selecting various types of
treatment for OCD. The target audience is professionals in the
field. The list of experts who drew up the guidelines reads
like a Who's Who of OCD research.
- "A Guide for Patients
and Families" provides an in-depth look at what OCD is and how
it is treated.
An exceptional site:
- Tourette Syndrome
"Plus" - Dr. Leslie Packer. An incredible, very big, but
well-organized site that covers Tourette Syndrome, OCD, ADHD, "rage
attacks", mood disorders, and autistic/Asperger's disorder. For each
disorder, you'll find original writings by Dr. Packer (coming out of
her clinical practice and from her own experience raising a child with
TS), information on diagnosis and treatment, extensive
bibliographies, and links to other resources.
If you are the parent of a child with one or more of the above
disorders, please take note of the
advocacy
page. The self-help tutorial and the other information on this
page should prove invaluable to parents seeking to get the educational
help for their children that the children need, deserve, and are
legally entitled to. (The
school woes
page is aimed more at teachers, but parents should read it too.)
An online course for nurses that provides a thorough overview of OCD:
- Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder Online Course #987 -
by Cherlene S.M. Pedrick,
RN. Given the article's readability and the amount of information
it gathers into one place, I would suggest that this is highly
recommended reading for anyone (patient, family members, and friends)
first setting out to seek medical/psychiatric help for OCD.
- My Experience with OCD
- What is OCD?
- Etiology and Diagnosis
- Symptoms of OCD
- A Closer Look
- Treatment of OCD (medication, BT, CT, and CBT)
- Psychotherapy
- OCD in Children and Adolescents
- Pregnancy and OCD
- Comorbidity
- Family Support
- The Nurse's Role
- OCD on the Job
Obsessional Medals of Honor
Entertainment
And don't forget the cartoons! In one of the Rugrats episodes
(#59, "Mr. Clean"),
Chuckie won't play in the trash with the other babies because of his fear of
germs. At the end of the show, however - realizing that life's too short, I
guess - he does a little exposure therapy of his own, plunging into the trash
and having fun.
And Dexter's Laboratory! The following posting to the
alt.tv.dexter-lab news group was
apparently referring to Episode 35 of the second season (#48 in the series),
"Pslyghtly
Psycho":
I just saw one of the most incredible segments on Dexter's Laboratory.
In it, the mother is deprived of her gloves and told to relax by her
kids and husband. This has to be one of the most perceptive looks into
obsessive-compulsive disorders I have ever seen. The creators of this
show should be proud.
Humor
Psychological disorders are not to be taken lightly, but, like some, I am a
strong believer in laughter being the best medicine (or at least up there with
the SSRIs!). Different people have different senses of humor, however, so
skip this section if the thought of OCD jokes bothers you.
"I can't marry someone with OCD, because then he wouldn't be able to carry
me over the threshold!" (My daughter, when she was 10 or 11, and who has
trouble crossing thresholds.)
- The Ask
Fluffy Archives - treating Feline OCD with Purrzac!
- Attainable
Affirmations!
- The Creed of the
Sociopathic Obsessive Compulsive - is listed at joke sites all over
the Internet, but it's more inspirational than funny.
- Digits -
look up your favorite numbers!
- Dr. Katz:
Cyber-Therapist - includes a couple of OCD references.
- Exceptional
Learner - the web site for an education course taught at Bowling
Green State University, has some OCD links and a brief review of
As Good As It Gets. It's a serious site, but I, at least,
had to laugh: my page is listed as "created by the Alex Measday
Organization"! I accept compliments wherever I can find them and no
matter how untruthful!
- The Humorous Side - covers
ADHD, OCD, and TS.
- Mensans and Their
Obsessions - a must read! Mensans with OCD get together and
compare their symptoms; from coping with round waffles to turning
upside-down cakes right-side up, it'll have you "rolling on the floor
with laughter".
- Phrases with
Psychological Flavor - "obsessive" and "compulsive" are frequently
used.
- "The
Plague of Tics" - is a reading by David Sedaris from his book,
Naked. The passage chosen is a semi-humorous,
semi-serious description of his childhood struggles with OCD.
(MP3 and RealAudio formats)
- "Pooh
Suffers 'Psychological Problems'" - Winnie the Pooh obsessed with
honey?
- Smiles For
You - check out #70. (I think it's #70 ... maybe I better count
again!)
- 10
Signs That You Might Be Obsessive-Compulsive - by S. Michael Pettey.
- Managed Care Jokes -
from Northern County Psychiatric
Associates (see Doctors and
Clinics).
- Need a Laugh? -
from Tourette Syndrome
"Plus" (see Doctors and
Clinics).
Some additional humor collected over time:
Neurotics build castles in the sky, psychotics live in them,
OCD'ers clean them, and psychiatrists collect the rent.
"There's nothing wrong with you that can't be cured with a little Prozac
and a polo mallet." (Woody Allen in Manhattan Murder Mystery)
Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.
I am going to the Orlando [OCD] conference. I went to the one in San Jose.
I wonder if the hotel people have complained about us after we left town.
Can you imagine the water bill with all the showers? Or the extra toilet
paper and soap? Do they get extra questions and little reminders about
needed repairs from us checkers? They might like some of us though, if
we obsessively clean or tidy up the lobby.
(Cherry Pedrick in an OCD-L
posting.)
How can you tell if there's an OCDer attending a Catholic church?
... There is soap near the Holy Water! (Courtesy of
One Cool Dude.)
Inspiration
A new category - I'll have to go back and seek out other inspirational
pages I've visited in the past!
Jackie's signature line, from an OCD-L posting:
Face the sun, and the shadows will fall behind you.
Miscellaneous
- drkoop.com - has information, chat
rooms, and message boards about anxiety disorders and about OCD. (The
web site is associated with the eminent and admirable Dr. C. Everett
Koop.)
- Dr. Magoo's
Case #4: Just Checking - is one of 7 informative, on-line case
studies for an undergraduate psychology class at Dalhousie University.
Each case study, including this one on OCD, has separate pages for an
overview of the case, diagnosis, epidemiology, family and social
factors, biology, normal development, treatment, references, and
related cases.
- Iowa
Health Book: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - lists common obsessions
and compulsions; also see their
handout
on accommodating children with TS, ADD, and OCD in the classroom.
- Mental
Disorder and Seven-Eleven: Brain Freeze Without the Slurpee
- Mental Health
Infosource - OCD
- Mental Health Net: All About
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - has some useful information on
OCD, as well as a wider range of mental health-related resources at
the home page.
- OCD
in Kids - a fledgling Wisconsin site.
- Operation Clean Hands -
"a public education campaign, sponsored by the American Society for
Microbiology in partnership with Bayer Pharmaceutical Division,
designed to educate Americans about the health risks associated with
poor handwashing habits."
- Sandy/Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder - is one of three people featured in a
documentary,
Attacking
Anxiety, from
Veritas Programming, Ltd.
Incidentally, she is or was a patient of Dr. Jenike.
- Solvay Pharmaceutical's OCD
Resource Center - from the makers of Luvox; an interesting section
for "OCD Kids" is under construction.
- Uncle Marty -
Helps with Personal Problems - a Lutheran minister helps a teenager
with OCD.
- WebMD - searching on "ocd"
produces a long list of brief articles or abstracts and archived
chat room messages.
- Hand Washing
Compliance Control - advertises HyGenius, a commercial
"state-of-the-art hand washing control and verification system".
- Health-Center:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - comprehensive, but take the
information with a grain of salt. Judging by the "References" page,
the information was gathered from some psychology textbooks; not a
single one of the standard books on OCD is referenced. On the plus
side, the site has a web-based BBS devoted to OCD.
- Kate Majewski -
has good taste in literature and an interest in OCD research.
- Magic Stream -
an on-line journal "combining an [sic] holistic approach to health,
nutrition, and psychology with emotional wellness". It has a page of
links to OCD sites, as well as stories about depression and other
disorders.
- Obsessive Compulsive Fund -
asks for artwork, proceeds from the sale of which will benefit OCD
somehow or another. The page has a copyright date of 1994.
- Past Life Research
and OCD
- Project:
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - who knows?
- Student
Criticizes Use of Psychiatric Language
Treatment
- Behavior Therapy
- Anxieties.com -
is a self-help site run by Dr. Reid Wilson, co-author with
Dr. Edna
Foa of Stop Obsessing! How to Overcome Your Obsessions
and Compulsions. Although Dr. Wilson hopes you'll also
buy the book, the web site contains detailed (and readable)
instructions for the treatment program advocated in the book.
A very useful site - visit it. (And buy the book!)
- Center for Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy - "Intensive Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder". Associated with Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz of Brain
Lock fame, this site has information on OCD and his 4-step
OCD management strategy.
- Cognitive Therapy Center
of Brooklyn - is an excellent source of information on
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). For the other "half of all
famous and talented people" who are not from Brooklyn,
the site has a good list of CBT clinics in other locales.
(My grandmother was born and raised in Brooklyn - does that count?
:-
)
- OCD HOTLINE - is operated
by Dr. Steven Brodsky, a clinical psychologist who specializes in
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for OCD, phobias, and panic
disorder. A unique feature of his site is reflected in its title:
you can submit questions to him by E-mail or by phone and receive
confidential replies.
- San Francisco Bay Area Center
for Cognitive Therapy - has some useful articles on Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for OCD (especially in children),
trichotillomania, depression, and panic disorder.
- Medicines
- Celexa (citalopram HBr)
- Luvox
(fluvoxamine maleate) - is a page at Solvay Pharmaceuticals's
O.C.D. Resource Center.
- Paxil (paroxetine HCl) -
the "Paxil Mental Health Weather Station", with panic disorder
represented by a severe lightning, depression by relentless rain,
and OCD by a swirling hurricane!
- Prozac
(fluoxetine hydrochloride)
- QTdrugs.org - provides
information on "drug-induced arrhythmias, especially those due to
prolongation of the QT interval on the electrocardiogram (ECG)".
The site has a
detailed
list of drugs for which prolonged QT intervals or Torsades
de Pointes have been reported as side effects; a
second
list is of additional drugs - potential triggers - that
susceptible patients should avoid.
- Neurosurgery
- Alternative Therapies - look before you leap!
Other Mental Health Resources
To Be Sorted