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

Osborn, Ian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679442227 ISBN 13: 9780679442226

Publisher: Pantheon, 1998

Synopsis

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has been called the "hidden epidemic": only a very few of the many people who have it reveal their condition.  Ian Osborn is one of those who suffers from OCD, and his personal experience imbues this book with an exceptional clarity and understanding.

Dr. Osborn discusses the various forms OCD takes and--using 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.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Dr. Osborn has written a splendid book on OCD--lively, lucid, informative, and scholarly. Blending case histories from his practice with intriguing bits of history and biography, Dr. Osborn has provided both the general and professional reader with a helpful and engrossing account of this serious disorder."

--Ronald Pies, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine

"In Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals, Dr. Osborn presents an excellent and very practical overview of OCD and its treatment. Equally important, his presentation is spiritually uplifting and openly addresses the crucial role of faith in overcoming OCD. A marvelous achievement."
--Jeffrey Schwartz, M.D., associate professor, UCLA School of Medicine, and author of Brainlock

"Dr. Osborn provides a remarkably complete survey of obsessive-compulsive disorder from sixth-century 'cures' through famous OCD sufferers over the past four hundred years, right up to current state-of-the-art research into the neurobiological causes of OCD. Yet despite his breadth, Dr. Osborn speaks to the OCD sufferer and his family in a highly personal way, encouraging them to consider the variety of treatment options available to help them. I heartily recommend this beautifully written book to all sufferers of OCD."
--Lee Baer, Ph.D., author of Getting Control: Overcoming Your Obsessions and Compulsions; director of research, OCD Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital; and associate professor of psychology, Harvard Medical School

About the Author

Ian Osborn, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist at State College, Pennsylvania, and a specialist in the treatment of OCD.  He lectures frequently to mental health professionals and to the general public.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0679442227
• ISBN 13: 9780679442226
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 325