Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder

Twenty-First Century
Medical Library

By Bruce M. Hyman, Ph.D.
and Cherry Pedrick, R.N.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder was published in 2003 by Millbrook Press Inc.(now Lerner Publishing Group). We’d like to tell you more about this valuable resource. Below is a look at the book jacket from our book.

Amy hated to get her hands sticky or dirty. As a little girl, art class was especially hard to deal with. She couldn’t understand why they had to work with paint, glue, paste, and all the other messy things. After art class she went to the bathroom to wash her hands, but they never felt clean. After being back in class ten minutes she’d feel like her hands were sticky again, then be off to the bathroom. As a teenager, Amy’s obsessions seemed to worsen.

Jason was afraid of harm coming to others, not so much by doing something to harm them, but by not doing something. When he went though doorways, he touched the right side of the doorway, then the left, then the top. If he didn’t do this, he thought harm could come to a family member. He knew all this didn’t make sense, but he did it anyway, “just in case.”

For most people, cleaning, worrying, and collecting are just optional activities that aren’t given much thought. Sometimes overdoing it a little is bothersome to ourselves or others, but no big deal. For people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, these behaviors seriously interfere with daily living and can cause great distress.

Long ago, most mental health professionals thought obsessive-compulsive disorder was untreatable. But thanks to decades of research into the disorder, there is now hope and help for people struggling with OCD.

Bruce M. Hyman, Ph.D., is psychotherapist in private practice in Hollywood, FL, and director of the OCD Resource Center of Florida (www.ocdhope.com). He specializes in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of adults and children with anxiety disorders, including the OCD-spectrum disorders. Dr. Hyman has appeared on 20/20 and The Montel Williams Show and been interviewed by national and local radio and print media. This fall he will appear on the MTV series True Life, which follows a young woman with severe OCD through the course of her treatment with him. Visit Dr. Hyman's website at www.ocdhope.com

Cherry Pedrick is a registered nurse and freelance writer in Lacey, Washington. In 1994 she was diagnosed with OCD, which began an intensive search for knowledge, effective treatment, and management of compulsive behaviors. She is coauthor of The OCD Workbook: Your Guide to Breaking Free from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, The Habit Change Workbook: How to Break Bad Habits and Form New Ones, and The BDD Workbook: Overcome Body Dysmorphic Disorder and End Body Image Obsessions, Helping Your Child with OCD, A Workbook for Parents of Children with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Loving Someone with OCD: Help for You and Your Family, published by New Harbinger Publications; and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety Disorders, published by Lerner Press. Visit her website at www.cherrypedrick.com