HomeMy WebLinkAbout047 OCD Awareness Week Proclamation - Word - 10.12.2009PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, on Monday, October Twelfth, Two Thousand and Nine, the City of Cupertino wishes to recognize Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Awareness Week in Cupertino; and
WHEREAS, OCD is a neurological disorder that is characterized by persistent, unwelcomed thoughts (obsessions) that cause high levels of distress and anxiety, and in reaction to the anxiety
caused by these obsessions, someone with OCD often does repetitive actions to reduce the anxiety (compulsions); and
WHEREAS, the obsessions can lead to anxiety and block normal attention in children and adults, and the compulsions can prevent people from carrying out basic life activities so that
OCD can disrupt people’s ability to participate in school, work, family and social life; and
WHEREAS, OCD is estimated to affect two to three percent of the population without regard to ethnic origins or economic status – which means one thousand to one thousand five hundred
people in Cupertino alone; and
WHEREAS, OCD strikes in childhood or adolescence and is not curable, but is manageable with proper treatment; and
WHEREAS, though widespread, OCD is commonly not diagnosed for nine years and proper treatment is often lacking for an average of seventeen years; and
WHEREAS, this distressing lack of recognition of the symptoms and therefore diagnosis and treatment is in part caused by a lack of knowledge on the part of families, schools and even
the medical establishment.
NOW, therefore, be it resolved, that the Mayor and City Council of Cupertino, do hereby declare the week of October Thirteen through Nineteen, Two Thousand and Nine as
OCD Awareness Week
in Cupertino and encourage the dissemination of information about this widespread and debilitating condition.
IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Cupertino to be affixed this Monday, October Twelfth, Two Thousand and Nine.
________________________
Orrin Mahoney, Mayor