Customer Reviews

Living With Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

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I am in awe of the author, Marie Gius. That's because I know her-- but I don't really know her at all.

Marie taught junior high school English in the district where I taught high school English for twenty years. During that time, we all saw her as a very bright, hard-working, dedicated, relentlessly cheerful person. She seemed a bit odd to me, but that was because she seemed to be "on" all of the time, and most teachers aren't.

However, most of us really didn't know her at all, simply because we didn't know that she was suffering from severe obsessive compulsive disorder, a condition that had afflicted her from early adolescence and that eventually drove her from her career and right to the brink of suicide. I can't imagine the sheer energy it took for her to hide her illness from us all.

This book is her account of the way OCD has very nearly destroyed her. It's a very personal account, with just enough technical information to allow a non-expert to understand the affliction. It is a raw, honest account of what it feels like to spend nearly every waking moment for over forty years having a mental illness grinding relentlessly at one's ability to live a "normal" life. There is no happy ending here; to this day, she continues to suffer, and she probably will for the rest of her life.

At one point, she asks, "What do you think? Get inside my mind. Have a glimpse of my hell on earth... Then you decide: normal or crazy?" Well, in my view, neither. That is, if one defines "normal" as meaning "like most other people," then Marie isn't "normal." However, she most certainly isn't crazy, either. To me, she is an exemplar of personal courage, and this book is an indelible portrait of the strength of her spirit. After reading it, I will never think of OCD-- or of Marie Gius-- the same way again.

A wonderful read, especially if you want to understand more about OCD. The stories are funny, heartbreaking and very real.

I was eager to read this book as I myself am an OCD sufferer, but I admit I was most disappointed. The author is to be commended for her courage in writing this account. It is incredibly hard to share something this personal and debilitating. I applaud her for her willingness to open up about her life. With that said, however, the entire attitude of the book is one big whine. It is poor me, I am the worst case ever. She blames her mother for this disorder several times each chapter. The time line jumps around so much it is hard to follow. The book itself is quite poorly written. She appears not to have had much ERP, the most proven method of providing improvement for OCD sufferers. I do feel sorry for the extent of her illness but she almost wears it as a badge to show how bad off she is and always will be. The mother blaming gets quite old, too, as psychologists generally do not consider what happened during childhood as being of much or any relevance to OCD, a largely biologically based disorder. If you want to know the extent of how disabled a person with OCD can become, then read this account. If you want to know about treatments available and how symptoms of OCD can be greatly lessened and become more manageable, this is definitely not the book for you. I finished the book feeling quite depressed. The author provides no hope.

This book is an insightful look into how OCD affects someone on many levels. The book reads as if Ms. Gius is talking to me, personally. It is a "must read" for anyone that is dealing with someone suffering from OCD or anyone that will clinically deal with OCD patients.

Wow! For most people who live day in and day out with life's little troubles we assume our struggles are the same as everyone's. This book gives real insight as to just how disabling OCD can be. I never would have guessed that this problem could run so deep. I found the book to extremely enlightening and the courage of the author is to be commended. Anyone who has a friend or aquaintance who struggles with OCD needs to reed this book to really understand how truly troubeling the problem can be.

I found this book by Marie Gius to be very enlightening on the illness of OCD. It was very brave of her to divulge her history with this illness. She did not lay blame on her mother for this disease, she only gave a true and factual account of her life, including her childhood. I believe this book could give consolation as well as insight to anyone who is suffering from this disease. The book was interesting and invoked many emotions while I was reading it. This disease is very confusing for people who do not suffer from it, but Marie tried to give us insight into living with this disease, and I congratulate her on her effort and on her ability to write her feelings down for the help of others! Thank you, Marie!

Marie Gius and her husband Doug display great courage in sharing with the public their personal battle with Marie's OCD. I had heard of this mental disorder before reading the book, and have had experiences with people suffering from this condition. However, I had no idea of the scope and complexity of this problem or how it controls a person's daily activities and affects others around them. This book takes the reader through Marie's life from early childhood, when she first began experiencing symptoms, through her early efforts to obtain professional help and her struggles to maintain a relationship and career. This book is well written, very readable, and offers readers a rare insight into the mind of someone struggling with this condition.

I found this book to be an amazing study and dialouge about OCD. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was unable to put it down until finished. The author is extremely honest and she brings out the important details about OCD. There are very specific experiences and thoughts that are very heart warming, educational, informative, and real. Marie Gius comes across as a very human, caring person who has endured this disorder and yet is honest and practical on how she communicates the facts. This is a true life experience that is a must read for anyone.

Sherry L. Schreck Review of "Living with Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder"

What a testament to human courage and stamina is Living With Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by retired educator, Marie Gius. This riveting autobiographical narrative is a forthright and ambitious feat on her part. I remember when my husband and I traveled through France on a Eurorail pass in 1970, and we encountered a woman from Belgium who had survived the horrors of World War II. She animatedly told us, "Never forget: Life is a struggle!" Yes, it is a struggle, but most of us do not encounter terrifying obstacles for every waking hour of our existence. Marie Gius reveals an in-depth perspective of the seriousness of OCD, and we the readers are allowed to visit her inner world of turmoil and tremendous suffering. One can only admire her fortitude and intelligence in taking steps, as early as her entrance into college, to educate herself and to seek professional help.
To write this treatise on OCD and to inform the public of multiple facets of this illness is a major contribution to other sufferers and to the general public. What is most obvious is her determination to contribute to society despite incredible personal obstacles. Educators know the huge mental and physical energy expended to teach successfully on a daily basis, particularly middle school and junior high school students. That Marie could juggle the demands of an arduous profession and the complications of OCD is amazing. In addition, she took classes for nearly every summer of her career to improve her teaching skills and advance on the salary schedule, enrolling in a variety of highly-reputable universities. Admirable!
In Living With Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I am one of her friends who managed to steer Marie toward psychological help in her first years of teaching by confiding in our school principal my concerns about her well-being. I knew she admired our school principal, Harry, and that she would listen to his advice. Which she did. She began to see a Wenatchee psychiatrist. We both loved Marie and wanted to help. I would do the same thing again.
The scenarios of her experiences with psychologists and psychiatrists at various hospitals provide details, facts, and reactions that inspire faith in mental health professionals who are striving to provide sanative measures for sufferers of this debilitating disorder. Marie's own honest accounts and willingness to provide intelligent feedback to her doctors must have been invaluable in ameliorating her condition.
Living with Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder also offers some beneficial insight into the author's backdrop of complex, yet loving, family relationships and the early development of her OCD. A recurring theme is Marie's inability, at times, to let go of blame and move forward into a more healthful state. Eventually, at the end of the book she describes her relationship with her caring husband, Doug, who is a keen listener and who helps her to examine the role of her father, not only her mother, in the development of OCD.
Marie's despair culminates in a failed suicide attempt that stuns her husband and her family, leading to her confinement in the involuntary section of a psychiatric ward. Doug struggles with the circumstances and the recommendation of the doctor. Ultimately, she is sent home, and he reinforces that balance will not be achieved without rigorous adherence to prescribed medications and the ongoing therapy of a doctor.
The conclusion of the reader is that there is no panacea for curing OCD, but Marie Gius is a heroine in her own right for her daily perseverance and for coping with what she describes as her "crippling condition." This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the magnitude of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, its implications for its victims and for those who live and interact with the sufferer.

In sharing her personal battle with OCD, Marie Gius reveals the all-encompassing nature and true complexity of a condition I did not fully understand before reading her book. OCD is not simply the outlandish behaviors we laugh about as we watch 'Monk' on TV. It is a condition that causes great personal anxiety. It requires a 24/7 concentration and living with deliberate intention to do many of the normal daily activities that most of us do without thought. I cannot begin to comprehend the energy it takes to will oneself to keep going each day.

As a high school counselor, I am better prepared to work with students because of the information shared in this book. I thank Marie for revealing the unusual twist and turns in one's life because of dealing with OCD. This is truly a 'must read' and, because of Marie's straight-forward writing style, a very enjoyable read.