Jonathan Abramowitz, professor and associate chair of psychology in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, is the founding editor of the new Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders.
The quarterly journal will be published by Elsevier, a leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles.
Obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) have intrigued those in the medical and mental health fields for as long as the disorders were first identified by Freud over a century ago. Although crucial advances in understanding and treating OCD have been made over the past half century, important questions remain unanswered regarding the causes of OCD, its true nature and its boundaries with other seemingly similar mental disorders. OCD in the elderly and the very young are not well understood, nor do scientists know how they are influenced by ethnic and cultural factors or how these disorders can be prevented. These and other issues will be addressed in the new journal.
“My vision is to create an international and interdisciplinary forum to foster communication and collaboration across the various clinical and academic fields concerned with OCD,” Abramowitz said.
Abramowitz’s research focuses on the nature and treatment of anxiety disorders, especially OCD. He also is director of the UNC Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic.
