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Local Doctor Making Strides In Fight Against Mental Illness

DETROIT (WWJ) - A metro Detroit doctor will be in the national spotlight tonight, to present some groundbreaking research into a crippling childhood psychiatric disorder.

Dr. David Rosenberg, a Children's Hospital of Michigan Psychiatrist & Wayne State Professor, will talk about his research into obsessive compulsive disorder tonight on the national news show "20/20".

He says it's a game-changer for treating kids with OCD.

"The bottom line is this -- We need objective markers of OCD and other mental illness," Rosenberg said. "They are vital to better diagnose and treat these disorders because that knowledge heals and it also defeats all of the ignorance and stigma out there."

Rosenberg said that 80 percent of all mental illness has its onset during a person's childhood.

Rosenberg and his team have been able to measure brain abnormalities, specific to childhood OCD by using genetic detective work and MRI scans.

"What we're discovering is that there are several different distinct brain sub-types of OCD where the brain looks completely different in children who have different sub-types of OCD."

Rosenberg's 20/20 interview will air Friday, May 23, at 10 p.m.

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