Obsessive Compulsive Foundation is now the

International OCD Foundation

MINNEAPOLIS (Saturday, August 8, 2009) — To further its mission as the worldwide advocate for patients and families suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation has changed its name to the International OCD Foundation.

The name change was announced today at the International OCD Foundation’s 16^th annual conference in Minneapolis. The international organization is the foremost resource about OCD and related illnesses. Its mission is to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public about OCD, educate the mental health community about the latest treatments and research, connect people suffering from OCD with treatment providers, and advance research for more effective treatments.

“Our work to help patients, fund research, foster therapist training and support families is global,” said International OCD Foundation Executive Director Jeff Szymanski, Ph.D. “The new name more clearly defines our mission to raise awareness and increase access to resources for people suffering from this disorder around the world.”

A group of patients living with OCD and being treated at Yale Memorial Hospital banded together more than 20 years ago to form the Foundation as a support group for themselves and those across the country. Today, the International OCD Foundation has a $1 million operating budget, has granted $2.5 million for treatment research, and is annually a resource for tens of thousands of people.

“We work every day to dispel the myths of OCD and provide better care and more options for patients and their families,” said Diane Davey, president of International OCD Foundation’s Board of Directors. “Obsessive and compulsive traits are not the same as OCD, and the organization’s new name more accurately reflects the true severity and challenges of the disorder.”

In 2008, the Foundation moved its headquarters from New Haven to Boston, added new staff, increased its outreach to patients and expanded training programs for professionals.

More than 1,000 researchers, psychiatrists, mental health professionals, patients with OCD and their families gathered in Minneapolis this week for the nation’s largest event dedicated to OCD and related disorders.

About the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation:

The International OCD Foundation is the foremost resource about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related illnesses. Its mission is to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public about OCD, educate the mental health community about the latest treatments and research, connect people suffering from OCD with treatment providers, and advance research for more effective treatments. Based in Boston, the International OCD Foundation has affiliates in Chicago, San Francisco, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Boston, Minnesota and Puerto Rico. The Foundation was founded in 1986 by a dozen OCD patients at Yale. Twenty-two years later, the organization has an annual $1 million annual operating budget, has granted $2.5 million for treatment research, and is a resource for millions of people. For more information about the OCF, visit www.ocfoundation.org.

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