Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals: The Hidden Epidemic of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has been called the "hidden epidemic": only a very few of the many people who have it reveal their condition. Dr. Osborn discusses the various forms OCD takes andusing the most common focuses of obsession - presents detailed and dramatic cases whose objects are filth, harm, lust, and blasphemy. He explains how the disorder is currently diagnosed, and how it differs from addiction, worrying, and preoccupation. He summarizes the recent findings in the areas of brain biology, neuroimaging, and genetics that show OCD to be a distinct chemical disorder of the brain. He contrasts OCD with other "OCD spectrum disorders" such as anorexia nervosa and hairpulling, and he provides a historical overview that traces the development over the centuries of both behavior therapy and medications.

Freedom from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Personalized Program for Living With Uncertainty

Obsessive thoughts; paralyzing fear of contamination; unmanageable "checking" rituals; excessive concern with order, symmetry, and counting: nearly six million Americans suffer from these symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this revolutionary book, Dr. Jonathan Grayson offers OCD sufferers his compassionate and innovative program for finally breaking the cycle of overwhelming fear and endless rituals. For more than two decades, Dr. Grayson's extraordinary methods have included taking patients at his Anxiety and Agoraphobia Treatment Center on an annual camping trip, during which they participate in activities even nonsufferers might find difficult to endure. They sleep in tents, use latrines without the benefit of running water, and take torturous hikes through mud and muck. Dr. Grayson's remarkably empathetic treatment program empowers sufferers not only to surmount these challenges but also to make enormous break-throughs in coping with their behaviors and feelings. Grayson argues that when properly understood, OCD is not a disorder of hopeless torment, but instead one that can be overcome.

Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

In Brain Lock, Jeffrey M. Schwartz presents a simple four-step method for overcoming OCD that is so effective, it's now used in academic treatment centers throughout the world. Proven by brain-imaging tests to actually alter the brain's chemistry, this method doesn't rely on psychopharmaceuticals. Instead, patients use cognitive self-therapy and behavior modification to develop new patterns of response to their obsessions. In essence, they use the mind to fix the brain. Using the real-life stories of actual patients, Brain Lock explains this revolutionary method and provides readers with the inspiration and tools to free themselves from their psychic prisons and regain control of their lives. 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Help for Children and Adolescents

Childhood OCD can be a truly debilitating disability, not just a minor problem or personality quirk. Children with OCD experience extreme anxiety, embarrassment, sometimes even harassment, because of this disorder. Their OCD symptoms often prevent them from building good relationships, from achieving their best in school, and from having a normal childhood. The effects of this disruption can be painful and lifelong.