When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty [Paperback]

Jeff Bell (Author), Michael Jenike (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

When in doubt, make belief. For author and news anchor Jeff Bell, these are words to live by. Literally. As someone who has spent much of his life battling severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), Bell has had to overcome crippling uncertainty few people can imagine. In this powerful follow-up to his critically acclaimed memoir, Rewind, Replay, Repeat, Bell expounds on the principles of applied belief that allowed him to make such a remarkable recovery from this “doubting disease” and the lessons he’s learned while traveling the country talking about doubt. With the help of more than a dozen leading experts, Bell offers readers practical techniques for pushing through the discomfort of uncertainty — whether it stems from OCD or just everyday worries — and demonstrates how a shift from decisions based on fear and doubt to ones based on purpose and service can transform any life.

Featuring interviews with Sylvia Boorstein, Patty Duke, Dan Millman, Leon Panetta, Tom Sullivan, and others

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A much-needed work.”
— Larry King

“Jeff Bell’s humanity, lovely sense of humor, and bravery will no doubt help many people who struggle with uncertainty learn how to ‘make belief.’ Thank you, dear Jeff.”
— Patty Duke, actress and advocate

“Jeff Bell has created a primer for dealing with both logical and illogical doubts. His honest and compelling account of his battle with obsessive compulsive disorder offers practical strategies straight from the belly of the beast.”
— Jonathan LaPook, MD, associate clinical professor of medicine, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center

“A breakthrough book...Jeff Bell’s insights can make a profound difference for anyone struggling with uncertainty in their personal or professional lives.”
— Patrick Lencioni, New York Times bestselling author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and president of The Table Group, Inc.

“At once humble, human, practical, thoughtful, and masterful.”
— Stephen Hinshaw, PhD, psychology department chair, University of California, Berkeley

About the Author

Jeff Bell is a longtime veteran of radio and television news and currently coanchors the afternoon news at KCBS Radio in San Francisco. A sought-after motivational speaker, Bell serves as a spokesperson for the nonprofit International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation (formerly the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation), to which he is donating a portion of this book’s proceeds.

Michael Jenike, MD, Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry, lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577316703
• ISBN-13: 978-1577316701
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeff Bell is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and radio news anchor. His first book, "REWIND, REPLAY, REPEAT: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder," was published in 2007 and quickly established Bell as a leading voice in the mental health community. Since RRR's publication, Bell has traveled extensively, becoming a sought-after motivational speaker across the country, while lending his support to numerous mental health awareness and advocacy programs, including the International OCD Foundation, for which he serves as a National Spokesperson.

Bell is a 2007 recipient of Mental Health America's prestigious forWARDS Award, for "moving the cause of mental health forward," and his story has been featured in The Wall Street Journal (online), Psychology Today, DETAILS Magazine, and The New York Times, for which he was commissioned to write a feature that ran internationally in 2008. He has appeared on NPR's Talk of the Nation and The Infinite Mind programs, Good Morning America Radio, and on more than 50 TV and/or radio stations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Denver, Washington, D.C., and numerous other top markets.

Bell is a 20-year veteran of radio and television news and currently co-anchors the afternoon news at KCBS Radio, the CBS Network's San Francisco flagship and one of the nation's most respected and successful radio news operations.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent self-help approach for managing the anxiety, fears, and worries which stem from doubt, May 18, 2010

By 

Beth Cholette "doctor_beth" (Upstate NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty (Paperback)

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book to review for the web site Metapsychology Online; a more complete version of my review can be found on that site.

This book, subtitled An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty, is a follow-up to author Jeff Bell's fascinating memoir about his struggles with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Rewind, Replay, Repeat. In When in Doubt, Make Belief, Bell presents the specific strategies which he found to be most helpful in confronting the fears and uncertainties produced by his OCD, sometimes referred to as the "doubting disease."

In the first part of the book, Bell provides an excellent feel for the experience of living with OCD. He distinguishes healthy vs. unhealthy doubt, reviews some of the hallmarks of obsessional thinking, and finally, discusses the most common compulsions, for which he utilizes the useful metaphor of trapdoors--he identifies the most frequent trapdoors as checking, reassurance-seeking, ruminating, protecting, fixing, and avoiding. In Part 2, the "Making Belief" section of the book, Bell presents ten specific steps for getting out of doubt, a model which he developed based on the "Structure of Belief" pyramid that he first shared in Rewind, Replay, Repeat. Bell focuses on the four levels of the pyramid--reverence, resolve, investment, and surrender--and he offers several principles associated with each tier.The concept of investment most directly addresses motivation, with Bell encouraging readers to exercise freedom to choose, including choosing to direct one's attention and choosing to act for the Greater Good. The Greater Good then becomes the central focus in the final part of the book. Bell argues that what is missing in traditional OCD treatment models is the motivational component; he maintains that professionals need to give patients a reason to confront their worst fears.

Bell concludes the book with interviews of several famous figures, including Patty Duke. He also weaves both personal stories and highlights of his interviews with OCD experts and others throughout. Overall, this is an extremely hopeful and encouraging work, not only for OCD sufferers, but also for anyone who has been plagued by the anxieties, fears, and worries which stem from doubt.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Embracing Doubt To Fully Live a Life of Purpose, May 8, 2010

By 

Thomas M. Loarie (Danville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty (Paperback)

Uncertainty and the discomfort which accompanies it are inevitable in each of our lives. The central question then is not how we avoid uncertainty and discomfort but... how do we embrace it?

Radio and television news veteran, Jeff Bell, has tackled this subject in "When in Doubt, Make Belief" which provides an inspired approach to living with uncertainty and doubt; developed over many years as he tried to free himself from a life of chronic uncertainty resulting from OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). OCD provided a laboratory for understanding the drivers of uncertainty and for developing strategies to limit counterproductive reactions to it.

Bell distinguishes between healthy doubt and unhealthy doubt and provides a series of questions to help the reader discern which is which. Unhealthy doubts stem from emotional reasoning (a term he coined) which leads to confusion, trouble, and is one of the ten distorted thinking patterns that trigger anxiety as well as depression.

Using his Belief Pyramid, Bell provides the ten steps out of doubt which leads to belief:

1. Choose to see the universe as friendly.
2. Embrace possibility in every moment.
3. Affirm your universal potential.
a. Live with purpose, mindfulness
4. Put your commitments ahead of your comfort.
5. Keep the sight of the big picture and the Greater Good.
6. Claim and exercise your freedom to choose - choose between the stimuli we are confronted with and our responses to them.
7. Picture possibility and "direct" your attention. - how much attention are we giving certain thoughts and feelings?
8. Act From Abundance in ways that empower.
9. Accept what you cannot control and let go. - the therapy of trust and of faith.
10. Allow for bigger plans than your own to unfold.

The path to belief and freedom includes embracing the concept of the Greater Good and the role each of us plays in an infinitely greater universal plan. "The Greater Good choice must inherently involve objectives bigger than ourselves and our doubts." The universe is available to each of us to the extent that we are willing to draw on it in ways that serve one's Greater Good. This enhances one's sense of purpose and compels each to be of service to others as they seek a Greater Good. Fully grasping and believing in the Greater Good provides a infinite source of strength that will trump uncertainty and doubt.

Every moment of this life is rich with possibility. Squandering these moments by fixating on the past, future, doubt, and uncertainty is self-limiting and destructive. Bell's lessons provide a "reverential practice" trumping the traps that keep us from seeking meaning and purpose at every opportunity.

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another great source of OCD, October 31, 2010

By 

Bozena Page "Comment Page" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty (Paperback)

If you're suffering from OCD, another book that will change your life is by Les Fehmi, PhD called "The Open-Focus Brain." I coincidentally picked up these two books at the same time in the library and realized they were intertwined. I was already familiar with Les Fehmi's work, but didn't realize it worked for OCD. There's a free CD in the back of the book with focus exercising. I'd highly recommend that you read both these books.