Review: CONFRONTING THE BULLY OF OCD: Winning Back Our Freedom One Day at a Time by Linda Maran. Fifteenth Street Publishing, Brooklyn, New York. 2004
Personifying obsessive compulsive disorder as a persistent bully, Linda Maran shares step-by-step techniques to putting up an effective fight against the symptoms and winning freedom from them.
This is not an account of suffering experienced as a result of OCD but, rather, Maran’s book comprises a detailed treatment guide for OCD, much of it gained from her own her sessions with leading New York OCD specialist, Dr. Steven J. Brodsky, who has written the preface to the book. She has struggled with the condition for most of her adult life and understands the problems of others, both in terms of the damage done by the disorder itself and in successfully undergoing treatment. Writing in non-technical, everyday language, she is able to communicate with, and provide strategies, encouragement, tips and direction to, fellow sufferers
Maran’s own motto is “Don’t let OCD bully you!” In order to assist people in not allowing the disorder to control their lives, she provides - in addition to treatment information and success stories - a comprehensive list of resources, including addresses, telephone numbers and website addresses from around the world. There is also a list of books, both about OCD specifically, nutrition and such self-help classics as David Burns’s The Good Feeling Handbook, which address improving mood and anxiety levels.
As any mental health professional will tell you, treating yourself well and eating properly are essential to enabling you to face the rigours of therapy. Many also include humour as a requisite for success. Linda Maran concurs. She suggests:
“Try to laugh every day
It keeps the OCD at bay.”
Amazon.com
This is not an account of suffering experienced as a result of OCD but, rather, Maran’s book comprises a detailed treatment guide for OCD, much of it gained from her own her sessions with leading New York OCD specialist, Dr. Steven J. Brodsky, who has written the preface to the book. She has struggled with the condition for most of her adult life and understands the problems of others, both in terms of the damage done by the disorder itself and in successfully undergoing treatment. Writing in non-technical, everyday language, she is able to communicate with, and provide strategies, encouragement, tips and direction to, fellow sufferers
Maran’s own motto is “Don’t let OCD bully you!” In order to assist people in not allowing the disorder to control their lives, she provides - in addition to treatment information and success stories - a comprehensive list of resources, including addresses, telephone numbers and website addresses from around the world. There is also a list of books, both about OCD specifically, nutrition and such self-help classics as David Burns’s The Good Feeling Handbook, which address improving mood and anxiety levels.
As any mental health professional will tell you, treating yourself well and eating properly are essential to enabling you to face the rigours of therapy. Many also include humour as a requisite for success. Linda Maran concurs. She suggests:
It keeps the OCD at bay.”
