Stop Obsessing!: How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions (Revised Edition)

This kind of book, a whole practical course of health care, even if short, is a very interesting experience. It is easy to see that there is a huge experience behind the text. Scarcely anything, I think nothing, is against the bare common sense, although such hair rising cases of extreme developments of obsessions are presented. And declared as overcome by the methods presented here. It only encourages the reader: my case is nothing compared with these. Maybe also my problems can be solved. But by this simple approach, by just self-treatment - is it possible? The core of the solution of the most versatile appearances of obsession is its acceptance, diminution to futile commonplace sensation, a part of myself, feeling that comes and goes, nothing special. Trying to get rid of something that obsesses and haunts me to the limits of tolerance is according to this book a completely wrong treatment, as contrary as it seems to be at first sight. But there is also the common sense in it. What is common place and everyday, is acceptable and possible to live with. But it is also very easy to show certain weaknesses of this book form. And what is the best: it would be very easy to make the necessary improvements. I mean the communication between me, the reader, and the course. There are a host of questionaries and tables to be filled by the reader and yet no means to do it. If it were a paper book, you could write direct into the book, but not so here. But just that could be possible, and even much better than in case of a paper book. Just introducing the common feedback forms, where you can fill in check boxes as well as write text to be send in pieces of any size even to the terapeut as well as to myself to be collected into a file of the complete course of just my case. It is amazing that this has not been done, but mere paper book table figures are repeated. Think what an increase of practical usability this simple improvement would do for the otherwise excellent course worth of all five stars available even as such as it is!

this book is helping me overcome OCD and other anxiety disorders, it has opened my eyes to understand how me as a person came to be who i've become, even helped me to understand my parents personality and why people react in various situations. This is something all should be educated on becuase all suffer from some form of anxiety. bottom line this aid will prove to provide some relief but the complete solution to all our suffering is Gods Kingdom, the Bible provides true comfort that very soon Jehovah God and Jesus Christ will completely solve all of mankinds woes by removing all suffering and pain, transforming the earth into a paradise where humans will be able to live forever please read: psalm 37:10,11,29 isaiah 33:24 Matthew 6:25 philippians 4:6 Rev 21:3,4

This was listed as the top choice for obsessive-compulsive disorder by the Carlat Report for December 2005 in a review of self-help books in psychiatry ([...] It is very much a self-help book, directed at patients rather than professionals, but some of the methods recommended seem to assume that a professional is involved and it discusses the use of medication. Indecisions and mentisme are not covered but hoarding (which is seldom due to OCD)is. As with several other self-help books it is without references or statistics so that we have to take some of the claims for effectiveness on trust. The professional reputations of the authors are so high that I would be inclined to trust them, although in some of the cases described the remedy looks worse than the disease. Their recommendations for dealing with contamination fears, and also their techniques for coping with contrast ideas, might be quite distressing. An academic quibble is that the techniques mostly seem to be plain vanilla behavior therapy, rather than cognitive. The cognitive therapy of Beck (and its avatar, the rational-emotive therapy of Ellis) involve arguing patients out of their symptoms by convincing them of the logical errors of their thinking, a futile endeavor in OCD. This book recommends the kinds of treatment that many of us have found useful empirically whatever our theoretical background. Sigmund Freud (in one of his letters to Binswanger) discusses a case of OCD and recommends what is called in Norman Guterman's translation "counter-compulsion." (His classic paper on OCD is usually considered the 1909 "Rat Man" whom he did treat by psychoanalysis. That was published as "Der Familienroman der Neurotiker Bemerkung einen Fall von Zwangneurose" for those of you who own the Sammlung kleiner Schriften. In the Collier paperback series, edited by Philip Rieff, the "Rat Man" case is in "Three Case Histories" ) Where Foa and Wilson fall short of Freud, and of Judith Rappaport's "The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing," is in literary merit. They write clearly and understandably but this is not something that the general reader would want to read cover to cover.

If you want to buy book about OCD, which would help you, then buy only one book- this one! I have severe OCD many years and I bought four books about OCD. Stop Obsessing is the best, because it shows other OCD sufferers' cases and it offers the only solution, cure for OCD- exposure-response prevention. What helped me? I started to take- Lamotrix(lamotrigine). Lamotrix removed 70-90% of compulsions! (So ask about this drug to your doctor! Of course, there is no guarantee, that it will also help to you!) Then I tried exposure-response prevention and it really helped! 90% of my compulsions-rituals are gone! Don't read OCD forums. There are only ill people with severe OCD. Those who are almost free from OCD- they are not sitting in OCD forums! Of course, you will not be able to cure whole OCD, but you can minimize it with exposure-response prevention and drugs. If you will not do exposure-response prevention, then you will never be free from OCD! Only exposure-response prevention can help you and this book tells you how to do it! Good luck!

Perhaps one of the best books you will find about exposure therapy for OCD. Both authors are very prestigious and well regarded in the academic community. The exercises provided on the book can be helpful for immediate relief of symptoms. Exercises are very behavioral and somehow technical. Recommendations are made at a cognitive level as well. I personally feel that this book is best for therapists who want to provide this kind of treatment, however it can be very challenging for people suffering of intrusive and recurrent obsessions and compulsions. I believe nonetheless that it could be a good support for a patient already engaged in treatment.

Very informative book

I found this book by accident when I was on Victor Yalom's web page and so I ordered the kindle edition. I am so glad I stumbled onto it. This book has been a real blessing to read, particularly the section on worriers and pure obsessionals. The book features a chapter on the descriptions of washers, cleaners, checkers, repeaters, orderers, hoarders, thinking ritualizers, worriers, and pure obsessionals. The description of a pure obsessional was spot on and this knowledge imparted to me has brought much needed relief. Foa and Wilson are realists and know that O.C.'s will "become discouraged too soon about slow progress" The sage advice they give is to "consider your experiences as practice, not as a test of how well or poorly they are doing." This tip has kept me from getting discouraged. The authors' descriptions and examples have resonated with me. I recommend it. I hope this brief review has been helpful.

I have OCD and didn't understand what I had or how to treat it. I was treated with medication for 5 years and had to go off it because of liver problems all the while not understanding the kind of OCD I have. I had a relapse about 10 months later and really struggled for answers. I discovered the self help books here at amazon and found this book. I am a pure obsessive and ritual thinker and never scored high on any OCD test. This book helped me understand what I have, how to treat it, and has specific suggestions on developing a CBT program that works for me. It has been such a great help to me I can't begin to tell you. I really recommend this book to all OCD suffers but especially to you pure obsessives as there is not much out there for us. I read three books and this was by far the best.

This book is a must for people to understand OCD and manage it themselves .The book is concise and to the point. One of the brilliant self help books by the leading OCD researchers.

Met my needs providing good info for understanding and doing something about my lack of optimism. I heartily recommend it to those who have been told or realize it themselves, that they are 'too' pesimistic.

El libro ha llegado con escrituras realizadas, pero unicamente en dos cuestionarios. Las tapas y hojas en estado correcto, lo esperado.

This is the best self-help book for OCD written to date. The authors offer any easy to understand treatment programme that is fully explained. The stop obsessing audio series, however, is even better because many people with OCD find it difficult to read books.

Good for CBT