Ray’s OCD symptoms began when he was 5 years old, worsened during his teen years and became mainly sexual in nature. With the help of this mother, Ray beat back his OCD with exposure response prevention therapy (ERP). By the time he was a senior in high school, his symptoms had become negligible and his life had returned to normal.…
Personal Memoirs
Life in Rewind By Terry Weible Murphy, Michael A. Jenike, Edward E. Zine
“Time equals progression— progression equals death.” The equation is logical. But few of us think of each moment and each physical movement as comprising a path to our certain end. Surely such torture would drive us mad. But for Ed Zine, who suffers from a debilitating form of OCD, this statement is a mantra that holds him, the prisoner—figuratively and literally.…
Pearls: Meditations on Recovery from Hair Pulling & Skin Picking By Christina Pearson
People often ask Christina, “What helped you stop pulling and picking? and, perhaps even more important, “How do you stay stopped?” While the tools and strategies that lead one person to recovery will not always work for another, in Pearls, Christina shares many small tools and shifts in perspective that helped her become aware of, and effectively eliminate, these unwanted behaviors…
On the Edge of Insanity By Emily Watson
With her middle-class upbringing and well-liked demeanor, Emily M. Watson is your typical girl next door. She admits that she used to believe that mental disorders were weaknesses and not real illnesses. However, at eighteen years old, she began to suffer from OCD, as well as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. And so her story begins. Journey through this brutally honest…
Being Me With OCD By Alison Dotson
Part memoir, part self-help for teens, this book tells the story of how OCD dragged the author to rock bottom—and how she found hope, got help, and eventually climbed back to a fuller, happier life. Using anecdotes, self-reflection, guest essays, and research, Dotson explains what OCD is and how readers with OCD can begin to get better. The essays in the book by teens…
A Life Interrupted: The Story of My Battle With Bullying and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder By Sumi Mukherjee
Tormented by bullies in childhood, the author’s onset of OCD at the age of 16 took the form of horrific intrusive thoughts involving his bullies. He aims to raise public awareness that bullying has long been causing needless suffering in the lives of countless nice, intelligent, and sensitive people. Overcoming his OCD through effective treatment, as well as love and support…
OCD & Me By Ben Gander
OCD is a debilitating, very serious and common mental illness, a far cry from the fad that popular culture has tried to turn it into. This semi-autobiographical tale tells of one man’s suffering and struggles to keep his family and his sanity. After suffering in silence for many years, when the extent of his illness becomes clear, Mark is sent…