#OCDchat on Twitter!

Due to the success of our series of "Ask the Experts" Twitter chats during OCD Awareness Week, we've decided to make this a regular event. Join us on the 3rd Monday of each month at 8pm ET, while we answer your questions about OCD treatments, resources, and any other questions you may have about OCD. We'll also occasionally host guest experts to talk about special topics. It's free to participate... all you need is a Twitter account.

Our next chat will take place on Monday, March 18th, at 8pm ET, and will feature Dr. Randy O. Frost, discussing hoarding disorder. Find us on Twitter with the hashtag #OCDchat.

Help! I have no idea what a Twitter chat is, but I want to participate.

#OCDchat Archive!

About the Experts

Jeff Szymanski, PhD | @DrJeffSzymanski
Dr. Szymanski is the executive director of the International OCD Foundation and author of The Perfectionists’ Handbook. Dr. Szymanski is also a clinical psychologist, who previously worked at McLean Hospital’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institute (OCDI), a residential facility for individuals with severe and refractory OCD. Dr. Szymanski has a long track record of teaching and training. As a Clinical Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School, he has supervised pre-doctoral psychology interns, psychiatry residents, and has run Cognitive Behavior Therapy seminars. He also keeps a blog on Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-perfectionists-handbook

Jamie Fuesner, MD | @OCDresearch and @BDD_anorexia
Dr. Feusner is an Associate Professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. He has been treating patients in the UCLA Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Intensive Treatment Program since 2002, and has been director of the program since 2006. He also runs the @OCDresearch and @BDD_anorexia Twitter accounts for the UCLA Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Intensive Treatment Program.

Gerald Nestadt, MD, MPH | @DrGerryNestadt
Dr. Nestadt is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Johns Hopkins Medical School and Professor of Mental Health in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. He is active in research, clinical treatment, and education in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This research, funded by the NIMH, involves investigating the genetic etiology of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He is the director of the Johns Hopkins OCD clinic, and teaches residents and students about this disorder. In addition to studying OCD, he is involved in genetic research into schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and epidemiological research studying personality in the general population.

Jon Abramowitz, PhD | @DrJonAbram
Dr. Abramowitz is a Professor and Associate Chair of Psychology at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders.

Fred Penzel, PhD | @DrFredPenzel
Dr. Penzel is a licensed psychologist, and holds both an M.A. and Ph.D. from Hofstra University in School and Clinical Psychology. He is the executive director of Western Suffolk Psychological Services. Within his practice, he specializes in the Cognitive/Behavioral treatment of OCD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Body-focused Repetitive Behaviors such as Trichotillomania and Compulsive Skin-picking, Panic and Agoraphobia, phobias, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Fugen Neziroglu, PhD | @biobehavinst
Fugen Neziroglu, PhD, ABBP, ABPP is the Clinical Director of the Bio-Behavioral Institute in Great Neck, New York and a Professor at Hofstra and New York University. She is a cognitive behavior therapist who is board certified in Behavior and Cognitive as well as in Clinical Psychology and a fellow of the American Board of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology. Dr. Neziroglu specializes in obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders and has published over 125 articles in scientific journals and 12 books on obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders that have been translated into several languages. Dr. Neziroglu has devoted her entire professional life to study better methods of treatment for OCD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and other spectrum disorders. She is on the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation.

What is a Twitter chat, and how do I participate?

As explained in this helpful CNN.com article, "A chat happens when a group of Twitter users gathers together at a scheduled time, and send tweets to each other using an agreed hashtag that allows anyone who's interested to follow the conversation." For our chats, we will be meeting on Twitter at 8pm Eastern on the 3rd Monday of every month.

One of the easiest ways to participate in a twitter chat is by using the website www.TweetChat.com and doing the following:

1. Log into TweetChat using your Twitter account. (If you do not have a Twitter account, sign up at www.Twitter.com for free.)
2. Once you have connected your Twitter account to TweetChat, enter our chat's hashtag into the search box. We are using the hashtag #OCDchat:
3. 
4. After you enter "OCDchat" in the box and press go, you will be taken to the chat page. All of the questions from Twitter followers will appear here
   
5. To ask a question or make a comment, you can simply enter your message in the message box at the top of the page and then click update.
6. A few things to remember:
• If you use the Tweetchat site, you do not need to include the hashtag #OCDchat in your tweets, the website will automatically do that for you once you are in the #OCDchat "room." 
• Consider adjusting the "Refresh Speed" to the fastest setting (every 5 seconds) so that you can be sure to see tweets as they come in. The Refresh Speed button is directly under the message box.

See you on Twitter!

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