OCD Action

Hi Codes,

which OCD books have you read so far?

There are a number of different themes which seem to be the most "common" obsessions or fears that OCD sufferers latch on to.

I think it may be really helpful (if you want to) to read at least one (or even better, several) of the popular OCD books on the market. One that might be useful is "Overcoming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder", by David Veale and Rob Willson. (Both of the writers gave talks at the OCD Action Conference in London last year.)

In that book, Willson and Veale list the following as some of the most common obsessions among OCD sufferers:

- Fear of contamination (germs / viruses / dirt / fluids, etc.)
- Doubts about harm occurring. (e.g. by forgetting to lock doors.)
- Excessive concern with symmetry and exactness.
- Obsession with the body, or physical symptoms.
- Religious, sacrilegious or blasphemous thoughts.
- Sexual thoughts or images.
- Urge to hoard useless or worn out possessions.
- Thoughts or images of violence or aggression (e.g. stabbing your baby).
- Intrusive thoughts or music.

When I first read this list, I nearly fell out of my chair. I looked down the list, and realized that at some time in my life, I had been plagued by thoughts and obsessions about every single one of these different themes!

I have also had lots of other types of obsessions and fears. And for many years, I couldn't see any connection between the different subjects -- except that I must be evil / strange / dangerous to others.

After reading the "Overcoming..." book, I went on to do a course of CBT with ERP on the NHS. I also took anti-depressants. I met lots of other OCD sufferers, joined OCD forums, went to support groups, and went to the OCD Action Conference in London.

And time and time and time again, other sufferers have told me about their own fears and obsessions -- and most of them are on the list above, drawn up by David Veale and Rob Willson.

If you go on to read other books about OCD (there are lots of fantastic OCD books available now), you will find that almost all of them talk about the same themes; the same treatments; the same fears; the same obsessions; and the same types of compulsions.

So...if you have started having religious / blasphemous thoughts that are starting to worry you, the first thing to be aware of is that this (according to Veale and Willson, and many of the other OCD experts) is one of the most common types of obsessions that OCD sufferers talk about having.

The recently published book: "Break Free From OCD", by F Challacombe, V Bream Oldfield, and P Salkovskis, is also really really good at describing the cognitive aspect of OCD.

The "Overcoming..." book is written in a more technical style, and is very much a self-help book. The "Break Free..." book is written in a clearer, more down to earth style, so possibly might be the one to read first, of the two.

Personally, I found reading a number of the main OCD books to be one of the key elements in breaking the back of my own OCD. I had to understand what OCD was. For me personally, it wasn't enough just to do the exposure tasks. I spent a lot of time (hours and hours and hours and hours) discussing the cognitive side of OCD with my CBT psychotherapist. It took weeks, in fact months, of weekly CBT sessions (usually 90 - 120 minutes per session), before all of the pennies really start to drop, and I finally (after 30 years of some degree of OCD) started to see OCD for what it really is.

These books (and others) really helped me to get there. But my therapist was the guy that really helped me to overcome my OCD. And a lot of the success came through our long conversations, going over all of the arguments in all of the different OCD books, and looking at them all together, looking at OCD from lots of different angles, until it all started to make a lot of sense.

Without all the reading, and without all of the long conversations I had, week after week, month after month, with my NHS psychotherapist, I don't know if I would have got to where I am now.

So what I would personally say is that you might get a lot out of reading some of the OCD books recommended by other readers on this forum.

In particular, "Overcoming..." talks about specific case studies, going through each person's specific obsessions and compulsions (both mental and physical), and how they can be treated.

(As always, please note that although a course of CBT (with ERP); a course of anti-depressants; and lots of reading around the subject of OCD, all seemed to help me enormously in my battle with OCD, I absolutely support and admire all OCD sufferers who wish to treat their OCD in other ways, or to seek no treatment at all, if that is their wish. I am passing on my own thoughts and experiences here, but do not wish to suggest in any way that there is only one way to treat OCD, or that any particular type of treatment must be tried.)

I hope everyone has a brilliant week.