catz2 i admire you for taking steps to deal with your problems. I have not really been aware of OCD. i suppose that was one of Howard Hughes problems..as illustrated in The Aviator. I suspect i may be experiencing some of that in my life...obsession with things...not hand washing....of course it may be the disease of the moment for me...we read about something and then we easily find symptoms of it in ourselves. one of my big problems is that i put something down somewhere and then i can't find it again. i definitely can't organize anything...though i suspect that is more a drepressive symptom than a OCD symptom. in any event, i wonder if someone, or the staff on this site can comment on the connection or interaction between OCD and depression. Catz...hope your appointment works out. i am certain it will make you feel better. there's hope. bob

Hi catz2, I just wanted to suggest that if you are hesitant to discuss your concerns, using some of the tools here on the site may be helpful for you. Taking our online Depression Test may assist you in organizing your thoughts. You can print out the results and bring them to your appointment. It can serve as helping to initiate discussion. It is understandable that you would be hesitant to seek this type of assistance. But please remeber that this person is a professional and they are there to help you. It is so important to be able to find someone that you can really trust and relate to for this type of therapy to be effective. Let them know about your medication concerns. Please keep us posted as to how you are doing and how your appointment went. Casey __________________________________ The Depression Center Support Team

I am new here, as this is only my second post. My husband died three years ago and before that I was on medication for anxiety given to me by my regular dr and medication for depression/mood disorder given to me by my gynecologist. I had a live-in boyfriend for about a year and because we could not get along and had these constant screaming matches, I made him move out. We are still seeing each other and I have decided to not let him move back in we can work out our issues. Although I don't want to admit it, I think I need some type of therapy/medication change. So, I finally made an appointment with a pyschiatrist for this Friday. I really feel intimdated by this, I guess its the fact of talking to someone about my personal life. I guess I don't want to hear the inevitable from a professional. That yes, I do have a mental illness. My boyfriend I had a great last couple of days together and I really thought about cancelling the appointment. Then bam it hits and we are arguing again because everything he says and does just starts bugging me. Its like he says, a switch just goes off and I change. So of course I am keeping the appointment. Can anyone tell me what I should expect at this first appointment? I want to be totally honest with him but I just can't imagine telling him everything in my life. Especially the embarassing stuff. I also am scared to change medications, even though the one I am on wellbutrin xl does not seem to be working. I am so worry about the side effects. One of the things I believe I have too is OCD which I have not told anyone about. I am a constant checker and it drives me crazy. I try and hide it from people but I know the noticed. Geez I am in my purse I don't know how many times a day making sure everything is there. If my son loses his keys, I freak out until they are found, knowing for sure that someone will break in if they aren't. If I smell something burning, I have to find out what the source is immediately, even after I have checked everything out I still feel uncomfortable, like the house may burn down. Has anyone else had uncontrollable worry like this? Well just a few things I needed to talk about. I am glad I found this site. Thanks for listening