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

Osborn, Ian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679442227 ISBN 13: 9780679442226

Publisher: Pantheon Books, 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

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.

From the Inside Flap

mpulsive 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.<br><br>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 me

Edition details

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