Update (07-03-2003)

Increased serotonin turns down the conscience. That's OK if it was turned up too high
to begin with but if you're not careful it can turn it down too low. Antihistamines and 
benzodiazepines are more effective at least for some people than SSRIs. People with 
with OCD often have a low tolerance for anticholinergic drugs. I've also recently read
that prolonged use of SSRIs increase the risk of cancer. I've also recently read that
prolonged use of SSRIs decrease the number of serotonin receptors. I've also recently
been informed that as many as 80% of OCD patients can benefit from exposure and response
prevention therapy. I don't think talk therapy were you look for childhood experiences 
to explain your behavior is of much help for OCD.

I already mentioned copper and zinc on the web site. But copper is a component of dopamine 
beta-hydroxylase and zinc competes with copper, so zinc is a natural inhibitor of dopamine 
beta-hydroxylase. And anything that inhibits dopamine beta-hydroxylase helps most people 
with OCD by increasing the ratio of dopamine to norepinephrine. Of course copper and zinc 
need to be taken together but the right ratio is different for different people. In the 
supplements it's typically 15mg zinc to 2mg copper.