Why Does Everything Have to Be Perfect? Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (The Dell Guides for Mental Health) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lynn Shackman (Author), Shelagh Masline (Author), Roger Granet (Editor)

Book Description

Series: The Dell Guides for Mental Health | Publication Date: August 10, 1999

Bad thoughts that won't go away...repetitive actions...feelings of guilt and shame...

Are you overwhelmed by a need to "get it right"? Do continual "what-ifs" prevent you from making decisions? Do you check again and again to see if the door is locked? Are your thoughts and habits causing you anxiety, guilt, or shame?

If so, you're not alone. You may be suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, a very specific and largely biochemical problem that affects over 5 million Americans. Now this compassionate, informative guide helps you break the tyranny of obsession and compulsions, providing the latest facts on why OCD occurs, its symptoms, and the breakthrough treatments that can dramatically improve the lives of OCD sufferers. Find out about:

How to determine if you have OCD--and whether your problem is severe enough to warrant professional help
How diet, stress, and other lifestyle conditions can trigger the symptoms of OCD
The two most highly effective forms of treatment--and how to decide what's best for you
The latest news in alternative therapies, including yoga, biofeedback, and herbal therapy, plus cutting-edge research that promises freedom from the chains of OCD forever

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lynn Schackman, M.D., has been a practicing psychiatrist for twelve years, specializing in anxiety disorders. She graduated from Yale University and Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and did her psychiatry training at the New York Hospital Payne Whitney Clinic. She is a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College and a clinical affiliate at the New York Hospital, and has been an investigator in research on obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder. She maintains a private practice in New York City.

Shelagh Ryan Masline is a writer and editor who specializes in health and lifestyle topics. Her recent titles include: The Johns Hopkins Family Medical Guide to Back Pain; Aromatherapy: Healing with Essential Oils; and Prescription and Non-Prescription Medications for Children: What Parents Need to Know.

Roger Granet, M.D., F.A.P.A., series editor for the Dell Mental Health Guides, has practiced psychiatry for twenty years. He is clinical professor of psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, lecturer in psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, consulting psychiatrist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, attending psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Division, and director of consultation-liaison psychiatry at Morristown Memorial Hospital. He also maintains a private practice in Morristown, New Jersey.

From the Inside Flap

Bad thoughts that won't go away...repetitive actions...feelings of guilt and shame...

Are you overwhelmed by a need to "get it right"? Do continual "what-ifs" prevent you from making decisions? Do you check again and again to see if the door is locked? Are your thoughts and habits causing you anxiety, guilt, or shame?

If so, you're not alone. You may be suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, a very specific and largely biochemical problem that affects over 5 million Americans. Now this compassionate, informative guide helps you break the tyranny of obsession and compulsions, providing the latest facts on why OCD occurs, its symptoms, and the breakthrough treatments that can dramatically improve the lives of OCD sufferers. Find out about:

How to determine if you have OCD--and whether your problem is severe enough to warrant professional help
How diet, stress, and other lifestyle conditions can trigger the symptoms of OCD
The two most highly effective forms of treatment--and how to decide what's best for you
The latest news in alternative therapies, including yoga, biofeedback, and herbal therapy, plus cutting-edge research that promises freedom from the chains of OCD forever

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 209 pages
• Publisher: Dell (August 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440234638
• ISBN-13: 978-0440234630
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.3 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Reference

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read and understand, question/answer structure, July 25, 2001

By 

"velvetfraggle" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Does Everything Have to Be Perfect? Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (The Dell Guides for Mental Health) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've just been officially 'diagnosed' with OCD, and found this book to be very helpful to someone 'new' to finding info about OCD. This is the first OCD book I've read, and plan on reading others in the same category soon. The book's structure is a question/answer format. Chapters discuss symptoms, related disorders, diagnosis, causes, medications, various therapies, and other ways to help yourself and how others can help you. It's very easy to read and very detailed... no long case stories (just a few short examples), but rather straightforward information about OCD. Some of the information is repetitive towards the end, but that's not necessarily a bad thing because it fits well into the content.

3.0 out of 5 stars Probably Best for Someone Who Is a "Light" Sufferer, May 7, 2011

By 

jds - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Why Does Everything Have to Be Perfect? Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (The Dell Guides for Mental Health) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is very easy to read, set up in a question/answer format (which may also become a bit tiresome 100 pages in, but overall, it works). However, the book is intended for someone who probably has very little, if any, exposure to OCD ever. There is little new insight to how deep & all-consuming this disorder can be. And although I am thankful not to have have been ambushed by case studies, there isn't one to back up ANY of the given information. Additionally, there is a great deal of talk about the use of anti-depressants to potentially kill two birds with one stone (helping the depression that often goes hand-in-hand with OCD), it completely glosses over any other disorders (which can be many) that may accompany OCD and whose prescriptions would wholly CONFLICT with anti-depressants.

If you're curious about some of the insights to OCD or if you're wondering how to handle a few of your own mild OCD symptoms, this book provides a series of questions followed by answers, but it doesn't particularly get to the heart of things. It doesn't explain too much of why & it really doesn't explain too much of what to do about it (other than to go down either the medication (anti-depressant) or the meditation routes).

However, if you have a "lighter" (if there is such thing) version of OCD that doesn't consume your or your family's day-to-day lives, but just need tending before it gets out of hand, this book might be the book for you. It's not too scientific, not consumed by case studies, not too long, but not too helpful if you're REALLY gripped by OCD.