About Me

A man whose mind feels that it is captive would prefer to blind himself to the fact. But if he hates falsehood, he will not do so; and in that case he will have to suffer a lot. He will beat his head against the wall until he faints. He will come to again and look with terror at the wall, until one day he begins afresh to beat his head against it; and once again he will faint. And so on endlessly and without hope. One day he will wake up on the other side of the wall. - Simone Weil

Definitions from Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Right off the top let me make clear that I am not a professional in the medical, psychiatric or social work fields. I am not a doctor or therapist. I'm just a guy with OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder).

I have had OCD for 40 years more or less and was diagnosed (finally) about 10 years ago. Which puts me at being 40 something and lets leave it at that.

That, I suppose, makes me something of an expert at living, or surviving, with OCD. I also know from personal experience a lot about what OCD treatments are and what they are like. I have an intense and up close knowledge of side effects for instance. Believe me, I've tried all of the medications, common and uncommon, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), talk therapy, you name it, everything except surgery, which I have declined.

My OCD is considered refractory, unamenable to treatment-so far. It's also considered severe to extreme. I usually score in the low 30's on the YBOCS (Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale) which is a tool used to determine if treatment is working-sort of.

This would be the place where I would put some accomplishments and so forth. And while I have attended college for instance, and done well while there, I have never finished. OCD has conspired in part or in whole to take away most of the opportunities I have had in my life. But that story can be found in my other pages

The long term goal of this site is to put a face to OCD, to make it a personal site. There are many good sites on the Web for OCD that contain great information and resources, but not many that try to convey what it is like from a personal point of view.

Ideally, if someone who knows they have a problem stumbles across this site and, in reading, sees something of themselves or identifies with what they see and then seeks help or even learns that they are not alone and that there is help available - that would be what this site is about

I am not a doctor, therapist or professional in the treatment of OCD. This site reflects my experience and my opinions only, unless otherwise stated. I am not responsible for the content of links I may point to or any content or advertising in HealthyPlace.com other then my own.

Always consult a trained mental health professional before making any decision regarding treatment choice or changes in your treatment. Never discontinue treatment or medication without first consulting your physician, clinician or therapist.

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