Dear reader,

My name is Tina, but you can call me Stamatina.

I have always introduced myself as Tina, but in recent times, I have found greater resonance with my real name: Stamatina.

In Italian, Stamatina translates to “this morning”. To this day, I’m still unsure of what exactly it signifies, however. The only definition I’ve ever had was provided to me from my Greek grandfather, who told me that Stamatina means ‘the woman who stops disease’. I used to think this was rather ironic, considering the hardships I have endured through my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. But I have come to reason that the cross I’ve carried doubles as a torch for both myself and other sufferers; illuminating the possibility of a life beyond suffering.

When I came face to one of my first OCD themes called “‘magical thinking” (wherein I believed I could become someone else by having the mere thought of them), I reasoned that the way to preserve my identity was to proclaim I AM STAMATINA over and over again until I “neutralized” the intrusive thought. This seemed to be a compulsion at the surface, but at the level of the subconscious, it may have been a way of me reclaiming myself spiritually…

Stamatina Daniilidis is the author and writer of her debut book SPLIT ENDS. She is an outreach worker for people experiencing homelessness and spearheads her own branch of animal rights-related activism in her local community. Stamatina has been living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since around age nine and hopes to help others dealing with the same condition primarily through her book, which she considers to be her advocacy. She has always considered herself a “disciple of the underdog” and hopes that even those who feel beyond the pale can come to know that they belong.