Read It Once, Read It Twice

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Publications

Updated 27-Jul-2009

Articles

This section used to be divided into "Collections of Articles" and "Individual Articles", the latter mostly dating back to the 1990's. There must be thousands of OCD articles on the Internet now, too many for me to keep track of. Consequently, I've deleted the "Individual Articles" and will only maintain the "Collections of Articles". The Internet is a treasure trove and I can't count every coin!

Collections of Articles

• Don't Think About Monkeys On-Line Magazine - is mostly devoted to TS, but it includes some OCD-related articles:
  • "Tears and Triumphs of a Young Soul" - excerpts from the journal of Michael Chapman, a youngster diagnosed with TS and OCD.
  • "Therapy Approaches, Part One" - John S. Hilkevich, M.A. (now Ph.D.!), on therapeutic advocates.
• HealthyPlace OCD Community Conference Transcripts (of on-line chats, moderated by David Roberts and with questions from the audiences):
  • "Getting the Best Treatment For OCD" - with Dr. Gerald Tarlow.
  • "Getting Control of Your Obsessions and Compulsions" - with Dr. Lee Baer.
  • "What To Do About the Obsessions Part of OCD" - with Dr. Michael Jenike.
  • "Anxiety and OCD Medications" - with Dr. Carol Watkins.
  • "OCD and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy" - with Dr. Michael Gallo.
  • "OCD Medications and Therapy" - with Dr. Alan Peck.
  • "How to Help Patients with OCD" - with James Claiborn, Ph.D.
• Internet Mental Health: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - has, on-line, a number of OCD articles originally published in The Harvard Mental Health Letter.
• Managing Fear and Anxiety - is a collection of articles by Stanley Popovich, author of the book, A Layman's Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non-Resistant Methods.
• New York City Voices - "A Peer Journal for Mental Health Advocacy" which has many OCD-related articles. Search (upper left-hand corner) on "obsessive compulsive" for, at this time, 43 articles that deal with or mention OCD. (Don't search on "OCD" - it yielded 0 results for some reason.)
• OCD (Wayback Machine) - is a small collection of essays on OCD and the movie, As Good As It Gets. Click on the .HTM files to see the essays. (The links in the Table of Contents, "CONT.HTM", don't work.)
• Obsessive-Compulsive - Suite101.com - is a collection of columns by Cherlene Pedrick, R.N.; the site also features links to OCD resources on the Internet and its own web-based discussion group.
• OCD Support Group (Christchurch, New Zealand) - has its full-color newsletters on-line in PDF format.
• Pediatric Psychiatry Pamphlets - Dr. Jim Chandler's comprehensive overviews of various childhood anxiety disorders, including OCD. An essential site for parents of children who suffer from anxiety disorders.
• Western Suffolk Psychological Services - has a collection of articles on OCD, trichotillomania, depression, etc. Many of the articles are by Dr. Fred Penzel, a frequent contributor to the OCF Newsletter.

Books

• Amazon.com's List of OCD Books
• Associates of Amazon.com:
  • Obsessive Compulsion Foundation (OCF) OCD Book List
  • PsyCom.Net Book Service: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  • RecoveryBooks.com: Compulsive Behavior

• Chipmunkapublishing.co.uk Shop's List of OCD Books - using a search keyword of "OCD". Here's the shorter list resulting from searching for "obsessive compulsive disorder".

• Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation Book & Movie Reviews
• Planet OCD - has a lengthy list of OCD books and their covers.

• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Zwangserkrankungen (DGZ) Buchtipp - are reviews of German books on OCD at the Zwangsstörungen web site. (Google English translation of the book reviews - the translation is actually very good.)

I am not an associate of Amazon.com or any other bookseller; the links below are to reviews and announcements. There are, however, many more books on OCD; visit one or more of the booksellers above for more complete listings.

For Children and Young Adults

• Blink, Blink, Clop. Clop: Why Do We Do Things We Can't Stop? (Wayback Machine) - by E. Katia Moritz, Ph.D. and Jennifer Jablonsky; illustrations by Rick Geary. A storybook aimed at helping young children to understand and manage OCD. (The publisher, Childswork/Childplay, has books and games for other disorders as well.)
• The School of OCD - by Kirk Stacey and Susan Goater. Not really a book per se, but an on-line series of illustrations of different types of OCD.
• The Secret Problem - is a cartoon book about OCD for children, written and illustrated by Drs. Chris Wever and Neil Phillips, two psychiatrists in Australia. They have also written similar books about panic disorder and ADD; see Shrink-Rap Press.
• Up and Down the Worry Hill - by Dr. Aureen Wagner. (Publisher's site)

For Adults

• The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing - Judith Rapoport's classic book. (Book review)
• Confronting the Bully of OCD: Winning Back Our Freedom One Day at a Time - by Linda Maran. (Publisher's site)
• A Cursing Brain? The History of Tourette Syndrome - by Howard Kushner. (Book review by Jonathan Lethem)
• Demons of the Mind: A Memoir of an Obsessive-Compulsive - Christine A. Marriott's autobiography. This is a free E-book - thank you from all your readers! - and is available in various formats.
• Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood - Jennifer Traig's account of growing up with OCD, especially scrupulosity. From the on-line excerpt: "Some people won't even touch the door with a napkin; they'll just wait until somebody comes to open the door for them. But they're crazy!"
• Don't Think About Monkeys: Extraordinary Stories by People with Tourette Syndrome - by Adam Ward Seligman and John S. Hilkevich. Also see their Don't Think About Monkeys On-Line Magazine.
• Esquire Presents: What It Feels Like - edited by A. J. Jacobs. Culled from Esquire magazine's "What It Feels Like" series, a collection of "first-person tales about the heights and depths of human experience". Two stories especially of interest are "What It Feels Like to Have an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" and "What It Feels Like to Have Tourette's Syndrome". (Interview with editor)
• Everything In Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - by entertainer and former national OCF spokesman Marc Summers. (OCF review)
• From Thoughts to Obsessions: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents - by Per Hove Thomsen.
• Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers, New York's Greatest Hoarders - by Franz Lidz. The story of the Collyer brothers is interleaved with the story of Lidz's Uncle Arthur, whose hoarding habits also appear in Lidz's memoir, Unstrung Heroes.
• Guía Práctica Del TOC: Pistas Para Su Liberación - by Cherry Pedrick, R.N. and Bruce M. Hyman, Ph.D. (OCF review of the English edition.)
• The Habit Change Workbook: How to Break Bad Habits and Form New Ones - by James Claiborn, Ph.D. and Cherry Pedrick, R.N. (OCF review)
• The Hair Pulling Problem: A Complete Guide to Trichotillomania - by Fred Penzel, Ph.D., author of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders and numerous articles.
• A Layman's Guide to Managing Fear: Using Psychology, Christianity and Non-Resistant Methods - by Stanley Popovich. (Author's book site)
• Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis - is a book by Edward Dolnick which focuses on the historical misapplication of Freud's theories to the understanding and treatment of schizophrenia, autism, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. (Book review; my book review)
• Managing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Sufferer's Question and Answer Guide - by Mark L. Berger, Ph.D., with commentary by Dr. Steven Phillipson. The book "presents OCD from the perspective of a patient and his cognitive-behavioral psychologist." (The linked-to web page has information on ordering the book directly from the author.)
• Naked - by David Sedaris. One chapter, "The Plague of Tics", describes his childhood struggles with OCD. You can hear him read a semi-humorous, semi-serious excerpt from the chapter here (MP3 and RealAudio formats). (Book review)
• ... nine, ten, do it again. A Guide to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - by Kathryn I'Anson. The web page has excerpts from the book and a table of contents.
• Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide - by Lorrin Koran, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and director of the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Clinic.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Help for Children and Adolescents - by Mitzi Waltz. (The publisher's page includes a table of contents, reviews, and the preface from the book.) (OCF review)
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: A Guide to Getting Well and Staying Well - by Fred Penzel, Ph.D., author of The Hair Pulling Problem and numerous articles. (OCF review)
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Theory, Research and Treatment - edited by Ross G. Menzies and Padmal de Silva. Chapter 1 is available on-line as a PDF file: "The Classification and Diagnosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder", by Annette Krochmalik and Ross G. Menzies; it provides both an interesting history of OCD and a discussion of contemporary issues regarding the diagnosis and classification of OCD.
• The Obsessive-Compulsive Trap: Real Help for a Real Struggle - by Mark Crawford, Ph.D. (Book seller; includes excerpt.)
• The Obsessive Compulsive's Meditation Book - by Dr. Christian R. Komor. The web page has excerpts from the book and a table of contents.
• OCD Dissected - by Kirk Stacey and Susan Goater. A "workbook/manual for people with OCD by a sufferer of OCD." Also see the list of OCD- and non-OCD-related web sites created by Kirk; scroll way down! (Book Forward and ordering contact)
• OCD: A Life Among Secrets - is the autobiography of Steven Diamond, "a professional Las Vegas magician who suffered with chronic OCD". (Author's book page) (My book review)
• The OCD Workbook: Your Guide to Breaking Free from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - by Bruce Hyman, Ph.D. and Cherry Pedrick, R.N. (OCF review)
• Overcoming Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques - by Dr. David Veale and Robert Willson. (Publisher's page)
• Overcoming OCD and Schizophrenia With God in My Life - by Chip Correll. (Review)
• Passing for Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion - is Amy S. Wilensky's story of fighting both OCD and Tourette Syndrome. (My book review)
• Psychological Self-Help - by Clayton E. Tucker-Ladd, Ph.D. is a comprehensive on-line book about what the title suggests; the book can also be downloaded for free in PDF format. Chapter 5 includes a section on OCD. There is a forum at Psych Central, "Sharing Self-Help Ideas" (under "Treatments and Self-Care Strategies"), that is devoted to readers of the book.
• Rewind, Replay, Repeat: A Memoir of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - by Jeff Bell. "Readers will learn what OCD feels like from the inside, and how healing is possible through therapy, determination, and the support of loved ones." (Book's web site)
• A Secret Madness - by Elaine Bass. "This is the story of my marriage in the fifties and how the secrets of my husband's illness were gradually uncovered."
• The Sky is Falling: Understanding and Coping with Phobias, Panic, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders - by Raeann Dumont. (Author's web site)
• So Many Rituals, So Little Time: Inspiration and Encouragement for Your Journey with OCD by Karen A. McCracken. "[A] moving, detailed, sometimes tearful and often humorous look at [OCD]" and a guide to overcoming OCD using your Christian faith. The book can be ordered from its publisher, Pleasant Word.
• Stop This Hurricane in My Brain: An OCD Survival Guide by Dina Sieroslawski and soon to be published by Llumina Press. The book "showcases numerous personal OCD journeys" and "demonstrates that there is life with OCD and it is possible to live happy and productive lives."
• Teaching the Tiger: A Handbook for Individuals Involved in the Education of Students with ADD, TS, or OCD - by Marilyn P. Dornbush and Sheryl K. Pruitt. The publisher, Hope Press, has other books on Tourette Syndrome and ADHD.
• Theoretical Approaches to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - by Ian Jakes.
• A Thousand Frightening Fantasies: Understanding and Healing Scrupulosity and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - by William E. Van Ornum, Ph.D.
• Tourette's Syndrome -- Tics, Obsessions, Compulsions: Developmental Psychopathology and Clinical Care - edited by James F. Leckman and Donald J. Cohen. Reviewed by Barbara J. Coffey in The New England Journal of Medicine, September 30, 1999; 341:1087-1088.
• Unstrung Heroes - Franz Lidz's childhood memoir includes his "crazy" uncles, one of whom, Arthur, is a hoarder. Also see Unstrung Heroes, the movie made from the book.
• Washing My Life Away: Surviving Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - by Ruth Deane. (Publisher's site)
• Why Me? - by Mark Snape. The author suffers from OCD; I haven't read the book, so I'm not sure if the book delves into his OCD. (Publisher's blurb)
• Worried No More - by Dr. Aureen Wagner. (Publisher's site) (OCD review)

Fiction

Children and Young Adults

• I Can't Stop: A Story about Tourette Syndrome - by Holly L. Niner; illustrated by Meryl Treatner. "Useful in most libraries and critical at schools where there are children struggling with TS (Tourette syndrome)." (Quote from Booklist) (Author's site)
• Joshua and Carrie - "the story of two teens who deal with having obsessive compulsive disorder". (Paperback or eBook download)
• Kissing Doorknobs - by Terry Spencer Hesser. A young adult novel told from the point of view of a 14-year-old who has developed OCD. (Review and discussion)
• Mr. Worry: A Story about OCD - by Holly L. Niner; illustrated by Greg Swearingen. "Soft soothing artwork accompanies a quiet story about a young boy trying to overcome the terrors of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in his daily life." (Quote from Booklist) (Author's site)
• A Thought Is Just a Thought - by Leslie Talley, with a foreword by Dr. Michael Jenike. (Publisher's site)
• "Wanda's Secrets: A Story About a Girl with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" - by Cherry Pedrick, R.N.

Adults

• "Episode on South Street" - a short story involving OCD by Ed Newman.
• "Indian Rubber Balls" - by Robert Starr. This is a short story about a man who hears a voice in his head, but there is also a shade of OCD in his checking the lock on his front door until his hand is "red and sore". The man's description of the voice could apply as well to obsessions: "[H]e imagined it curling up and ricocheting around inside his head like an Indian Rubber Ball, giggling and pounding the inside of his skull until he did something to appease it."
• Motherless Brooklyn - by Jonathan Lethem. A mystery novel featuring a detective with Tourette Syndrome. The cadence of the writing has the feel of Tourette's - my personal impression, at least. You can hear an excerpt from the book here (MP3 and RealAudio formats). (Book review)
• The Pleasure of My Company - by Steve Martin. A lightly humorous novella about Daniel Pecan Cambridge, "a savant whose closely proscribed world is bounded on every side by neuroses and obsessions". (Book review)
• Short of a Picnic - a collection of short stories by Eric Shapiro (screenwriter, director, and author), whose "own battle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder compelled him to write Short of a Picnic - to explore the thoughts and behaviors of those suffering from mental disorders without prejudgment or moralizing". (Interview)

Poetry

• Fighting OCD - by Sherri Vogel.
• Nelli Miller's I Am: An Exploration into Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Poetry (Wayback Machine) - has a large number of poems by various authors with accompanying artwork. The poems open up as individual PDF files.
• I'm Not Crazy - Anonymous.
• Sani's My Obsessively Clean Poetry Wall
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Written Works - has a large number of poems by various authors.
• OCD & Poetry - has a large number of poems by Kimberly, with commentary on the background of the poems.
• OCD-Plus: Gallery - has poems by various authors and artwork.
• Understanding OCD: OCD Poetry - has two poems about OCD.
• Welcome to my world - scroll way down for a bunch of poems by C.W.O.

Scholarly Papers

As with the "Articles" for the layperson section above, I've deleted the individual scholarly articles - there are too many of them now on the Internet - and I will only maintain the "Collections of Articles" links here.

Collections of Articles

• The Inositol Reports (Wayback Machine) - is a collection of three papers that describe studies of Inositol in the treatment of depression, panic disorder, and OCD.
• Internet Mental Health: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - has links to information on various aspects of OCD: description, diagnosis, treatment, research, etc.
• MBL Communications - publishes 3 psychiatric magazines. Searches for OCD articles in the journals are linked below:
  • CNS Spectrums
  • Primary Psychiatry
  • Psychiatric Weekly
• Medscape Search - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - lists abstracts for numerous OCD articles, interviews, and papers. Free registration is required to view the abstracts.