Customer Reviews

Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

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Since I am interested in learning about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), I decided to do some research into various treatment methods, and I stumbled upon this book. At first glance, the book seemed promising; it included some case studies, an overview of different treatment methods, and commentary on success rates. About half-way through the book, however, I began to detect a bias and a narrow-mindedness in the writing that led to a negative view of the book.

The authors wrote this book with the intent of educating people about OCD and its treatment, but they tend to emphasize their own methods of treatment which primarily consist of flooding and response prevention. While this treatment has been shown to be effective, the authors barely touch upon other forms of treatment like cognitive and pharmacological therapies, which have both shown moderate success rates. The book also suffers from being outdated (published in 1986), before the onset of many new anti-anxiety drugs like MAO inhibitors and SSRI drugs. I do not personally agree with drug treatment, however, and was interested in behavioral methods of combatting OCD. The book was a disappointment with its narrowminded views and limited treatment, repeatedly focusing on flooding and response prevention, or variations thereof. Although many different case studies are mentioned, all of the treatment approaches boil down to the same strategy, which is not very helpful for someone who is exploring their options. I also noticed that a fair quantity of the references made by the author S.M. Turner were to articles that he had written himself; I am a little wary of people who tend to quote primarily their own work.

A more objective approach to the treatment of OCD, covering a number of different treatment methods, would have been a welcome addition to this book. Being outdated and somewhat biased, I suggest it be used only for background about OCD. I encourage people who choose to read this book to read other books about OCD to get a broader knowledge base of treatment opportunities currently available in the present day.