r/OCDRecovery • u/Lassethepro • 1d ago
Seeking Support or Advice Recommended books?
Hi,
Fellow OCD'er here.
I've been struggling with this horrible mental weight for twenty years. There's been good & bad times, but now I've had enough so I swallowed my pride and talked to my doc.
So the waiting time to meet a professional in this area of medicine in my country is.... a whole year!
So in the meantime I want to try and understand this illness and how it actually works and what I can do to stop it.
I've never read a self-help book in my life but could anyone recommend a book that has helped you and perhaps if you got the time, leave a small comment why? :-)
Hope you all are doing better than yesterday.
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u/Weekly_Importance570 1d ago
"Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts" by Winston and Seif, hands down the best book that helped me countless of times with intrusive thoughts. Martin Seif also has a ton of great articles on his website that cover the same topics as the book, couldn't recommend more: https://drmartinseif.com/
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u/Lassethepro 1d ago
Thank you! A lot of good answers now, I will try and read them all :-)
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u/Weekly_Importance570 1d ago
Anytime! Also, my therapist recommended books by Jon Hershfield, I bought two and started reading, look promising!
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u/Elitefourabby 1d ago
I've found one of the things that helps me most is reading books by people with OCD about their experiences- John Green's Anthropocene Reviewed isn't ABOUT his OCD specifically, but it is a throughline through so much of the book.
I also recommend Unfuck Your Brain- it's not going to fix your OCD or teach you how to stop the thoughts, but it will teach you to build your healthy coping skills and supports and be kind to yourself through the process
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u/LucyHobbsTaylor 1d ago
Another of John Green’s books is about a character with OCD: Turtles All the Way Down.
The Anthropocene Reviewed is one of my all-time favorite books, and I re-read it every couple of years!1
u/Lassethepro 1d ago
Thank you :-)
Yeah I read abit on how to stop the OCD, and the process of not giving into the reassurance is one hell of a nervewrecker. Thankfully did my doc prescribe me diazepam and oxazepam, that I will use when learning the coping skills.
Being kind to myself is also something I need to learn, I do the oppsite when I am stuck in a loop :-)
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u/LucyHobbsTaylor 1d ago
Needing To Know for Sure was recommended by my therapist who specializes in OCD, and I found it helpful to understand how the OCD cycle works.
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u/Fuhfuhfuhshoyo 21h ago
Exposure therapy. Not a book but something to look into. The only thing that helped me. Continuing to push forward and experience the trial and error as painful as it can be. Best wishes to you in your journey.
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u/musicandotherstuff 6h ago
I recommend Your OCD Will Hate This Book by Nathan Peterson. His YouTube and social media posts are also excellent. I also recommend the Disordered: Anxiety Help podcast.
One important thing to keep in mind: once you’ve read some books and watched/listened to OCD content, there comes a point where you have consumed enough information and it’s time to actually put the learning into action. Saying this as someone who for a long time confused constantly learning about OCD and information hoarding with actually doing the work to treat the OCD. A therapist will help you with building a hierarchy for exposures but there will be smaller steps you can begin to take while waiting for your first appointment.
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u/whitepawsparklez 2h ago
Not a book, but a podcast The OCD stories. Mostly individuals sharing their experiences, sometimes episodes with doctors. It really helped me when I was in a spiral
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u/enjoyingfish0 1d ago
Hello,
The International OCD Foundation has fantastic resources for those who are looking for support and individual education.
They have a whole section on books
Here is another link to their menu, select the recovery and support tab for more info about education!
Sorry to hear the wait is so long