OCD Dave

    Welcome! My name is Dave Mackey, you can call me OCD Dave if you like, and I will act as your host during your stay here at OCDDave.com. Before you start browsing around let me tell you a little bit about the site and myself. I designed this site for two purposes:

• First, I want to share what I have learned about mental disorders with others - sufferers, professionals, family and friends - so that we as a human race can more effectively assist ourselves and others.
• Secondly, I consider this a form of therapy. It is therapeutic for me to write about my struggles, and I hope it will be therapeutic for you to read about these struggles.

    The site's beginning focus is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a disorder I have suffered with since childhood. It includes a focus on Depression, which I have suffered from since childhood in an episodic (major depressive) manner with an underlying, continual (dysthymic) depression also haunting me. The site will eventually expand into other areas of mental health beyond these two main sectors - as I want to be of assistance in as much of this fascinating and painful field as possible.    It is also worth noting that one of the distinguishing points of this website is the fact that in my studies of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder I deal in-depth with Religious OCD. Technically known as scrupulosity, it is a form of OCD which finds its strength in religious expression. As a Protestant Christian I have suffered for years through the torments of religious OCD and want to provoke continued dialogue on this topic that will hopefully better equip the church to see and treat this as a disorder while offering hope to fellow sufferers (and perhaps appropriate some of the excellent research done by Catholicism on this disorder).