Thanks lynn p. I will definitely look into those links. I've already placed that book and some others about OCD on hold at my library.

He has never received treatment for the OCD. He's never been this bad. He's had issues with depression his whole life kind of off and on. It's apparently something which runs in his family as well. His mother alluded to him being "on medication" and she said something about him needing to go back on medication when I told her about how bad the OCD was getting in college. He even told me himself he used to take anti-depressants when he was younger, which I was confused about because I didn't think most of them were approved for use with adolescents. But he said he got addicted and had to stop. It's not something he likes to talk about much and I don't push him to talk about it.

He's always been a little "germophobic", but nothing so extreme to the point where he couldn't function in an all-male dorm and honors house in college. The turning point seemed to be when it was discovered one of my roommates in my on-campus apartment didn't wash her hands after using the restroom. It's like a switch was flipped inside him. He was already dealing with depression then, so I don't know if that just gave the OCD an outlet or what. This was near the end of our senior year of college, which was last year. So it's been going on and steadily getting worse for a year now. Another point worthy of note is that at the end of junior year he became severely ill with infectious colitis due to E.coli food poisoning. He ate a bad burger at our own college diner and I ended up taking him to the hospital where he was admitted for a full week of aggressive antibiotics and pain medication. It took him nearly all summer to recover, but none of these issues manifested then.

I highly doubt he will look at web links especially since he won't touch his computer. He becomes indignant at the mere mention of him needing help. I don't know if he views it as a personal failing on his part and just doesn't want to acknowledge it. I know he doesn't want anyone to think he's crazy, and I don't think he's crazy, but he is sick. His mother is an RN, so I was hoping she would be doing more to contact mental health professionals. But now it seems like the family has just...resigned him to be their "dirty secret". And I'm four hours away, so my influence is somewhat limited. I may send a message to his older sister who I am friends with on fb. She lives in her own place but still fairly close to him and the rest of the family. Sometimes it just feels like I'm the only one left fighting for him, though.