Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior (Paperback)

~ Jeffrey M. Schwartz (Author), (Author) "Step 1: Relabel answers the question, "What are these bother, intrusive thoughts?..." (more)
Key Phrases: orbital cortex, mindful awareness, contamination fears, Four Steps, Impartial Spectator, Howard Hughes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A remarkable achievement! This book will make a world of difference in the lives of people with OCD." -- Eric Hollander, M.D., Compulsive, Impulsive & Anxiety Disorders Program, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

Product Description

An estimated 5 million Americans suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and live diminished lives in which they are compelled to obsess about something or to repeat a similar task over and over. Traditionally, OCD has been treated with Prozac or similar drugs. The problem with medication, aside from its cost, is that 30 percent of people treated don't respond to it, and when the pills stop, the symptoms invariably return.

In Brain Lock, Jeffrey M. Schwartz presents a simple four-step method for overcoming OCD that is so effective, it's now used in academic treatment centers throughout the world. Proven by brain-imaging tests to actually alter the brain's chemistry, this method doesn't rely on psychopharmaceuticals. Instead, patients use cognitive self-therapy and behavior modification to develop new patterns of response to their obsessions. In essence, they use the mind to fix the brain. Using the real-life stories of actual patients, Brain Lock explains this revolutionary method and provides readers with the inspiration and tools to free themselves from their psychic prisons and regain control of their lives.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1st edition (January 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060987111
• ISBN-13: 978-0060987114
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,865 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

184 of 190 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brain Lock - a truly remarkable treatment plan for OCD, August 27, 2001

By	John R. Petz (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read Dr. Schwartz' book over 2 years ago while in the throes of a debilitating panic disorder fueled by OCD-like intrusive thoughts. Once the panic was under control (via meds) I started to search for a cognitive-behavioral treatment plan to control the obsessive thoughts. For years I tried to self-analyze the thoughts which amounted to pulling on one of those ropes which would further constrict the more you struggled. The panic disorder finally led me to a specialist who diagnosed both the panic and a mild form of OCD. I say mild since there are clearly OCD patients whose lives are extremely curtailed by the disorder such as incessant hand washing, fear of contamination, leaving the house, and so on. I'm fortunate not to suffer from this form of OCD, although I have experienced some agoraphobia, not uncommon with panic/OCD patients. As a result, I now understood that OCD (and panic) is nothing to be ashamed of and in fact is highly treatable due to recent, breakthrough advances in treating mental illness, medication being at the top of the list. Knowledge is power so no longer stigmatized, I was able to approach the problem as any other by looking for further research on treating the disorder and lucky for me, I came across the book "Brain Lock". "Brain Lock" demystifies OCD by attempting to explain the physiology behind the disorder. I am not medically trained but found the explanations plausible enough to continue on into the treatment phase. The most memorable, constantly reinforced phrase I recall from the book is that whenever you find yourself obsessing about an undesired thought, simply say to yourself "its not me its my OCD". Once that realization hits home, you shift ALL your focus to something else such as work, a good book, playing with your child, or anything activity that removes you from the obsessive "stuck in gear" pattern. It sounds simple but it DOES work. But you must work at it and the more acute the disorder the more difficult it is to shift control. That is where medication can be helpful as Dr. Schwartz points out. He doesn't really push meds put acknowledges it as a crutch to get the ball moving in the right direction. He claims that most, if not all his past patients at time of writing are off meds, using his 4-step, cognitive-behavioral process alone. That is remarkable! I have been on meds to control the panic but would probably go off it should the mild OCD be my only problem. Despite meds, I still run into occasional bouts with OCD but using Dr. Scwhartz's 4-step method, I am able to shift gears and move away from it quickly. As a result, I don't build up guilt and discomfort at having the thoughts in the first place since I don't give them time to fester as I had done in the past. "Its not me its my OCD". Again, Brain Lock is a great read for someone aware of having OCD and looking for a self-help method of controlling it.

90 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful for some types of OCD, but simplistic and judgmental, September 11, 2006

By	Judith Shapiro (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book teaches OCD sufferers four steps to use to control their disorder, starting with "relabeling" their fears and urges as just a symptom of a disorder, rather than "something real." By reading the case studies, I figured out that "relabeling" means telling yourself, "My urge to perform my compulsive ritual is not a supernatural omen that something terrible will happen if I don't perform the ritual; it's just a symptom of OCD." The author never actually explains this, however.

The technique described in this book may be quite useful for people who have the most common form of OCD - a fear that something terrible will happen if they don't perform some ritual. However, it's not really clear how to apply the techniques in this book to forms of OCD that don't involve a fear of some catastrophe. For example, the author never really says (or gives a good example of) how to apply relabeling to a tendency to horde objects, an urge to pull out one's hair, an irrational belief that one is ugly, etc, although he claims his techniques work for all of these problems. I suspect that these other forms of OCD need a completely different approach.

Worse, the author makes it sound as if beating OCD is relatively straightforward, and that if his technique doesn't work, it can only be because the patient didn't try hard enough. He seems unwilling to consider that his approach may not work for everyone, preferring to place the blame on his patients instead. For example, he describes one patient, Brian, who had an intense fear of contamination from battery acid. Brian would sneak to the scene of car accidents in the middle of the night to apply baking soda, which he felt would "neutralize" the contamination from a possible car battery leak. Most of the case histories in this book are success stories, but in Brian's case, treatment was a failure and his story is presented as a way of illustrating the toll that OCD can take on the patient's family. From reading the case history, it seems clear to me that Brian had not only OCD, but also a phobia of batteries. For example, he was terrified if he saw a battery. (Unlike, say, OCD sufferers who check and re-check their stoves but aren't terrified by seeing a stove.) Given that Brian had a phobia of batteries, it might have helped to add a treatment for the phobia (e.g., systematic desensitization) to the OCD treatment, but it appears that the author never tried this. Instead, he concludes that treatment failure was all Brian's fault, saying that Brian must not have been motivated to overcome his OCD, even though Brian said the OCD made him so miserable that he wanted to die.

Also, the author seems quite opposed to long-term drug treatment (he trivializes drug therapy as being like "water wings" for swimmers) but never gives a reason why. He also is critical of OCD sufferers who are willing to put up with some residual symptoms, even if those symptoms aren't interfering much with their lives. These seem to be moral judgments, with no acknowledgement that patients are entitled to choose what treatment works best for them.

In conclusion, this book will be helpful for some OCD sufferers, but it is marred by a tendency to overstate the patient population who can benefit from the author's techniques, and a tendency to blame patients who don't have complete success with the author's techniques.

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help your OCD in less than a week of commuting in your car, May 28, 2001

By	Carol Watkins "Psychiatrist" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Brain Lock (Audio Cassette)

This text, written by a psychiatrist experienced in treatment and research on OCD, presents a fairly simple but effective approach to dealing with troubling symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He demystifies the nature and symptoms of the disorder and explains the interaction of the biological and behavioral elements of OCD.

His program focuses on empowering the individual with OCD so that he or she can take an active role in decreasing or eliminating obsessions and compulsions. I often recommend the book to adults and adolescents who have OCD. When a person with OCD is engaged in cognitive-behavioral therapy, treatment is more successful if the individual feels empowered and does "homework" outside of the therapy session. This book reinforces this process.

I find that many people just do not have the time or patience to read an entire book, even one as good as this one. I have recommended the abridged audiocassette to a number of people who otherwise might never have been exposed to these concepts. Most of us commute enough to finish this cassette in less than a week.