Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions

by Tallis, Frank

• ISBN13: 9780859696524
• ISBN10: 0859696529
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-09-24
• Publisher: Sheldon Press

Summary

This guide is by the author of "How to Stop Worrying". People suffering from some degree of obsessive compulsive disorder may be embarrassed by their symptoms and not present themselves for treatment. This book, therefore, attempts to provide a comprehensive guide to self-help, explaining the principles of anxiety reduction, giving treatment instructions in easy-to-understand language. It covers compulsive checking, washing, hoarding, obsessional thoughts and worry, obsessional personality and depression.

Author Biography

Frank Tallis is a writer and clinical psychologist. In 1999 he received a Writers' Award from the Arts Council of Great Britain and in 2000 he won the New London Writers' Award.In 2005 MORTAL MISCHIEF was shortlisted for the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award and for the Quais du Polar Award in France, 2007. FATAL LIES was longlisted for the International Thriller Writers' Best Paperback Award, 2010. DARKNESS RISING was runner up for the 2009 Medical Journalist's Association fiction award and shortlisted for the Elle Prix de Letrice in 2010. It was also shortlisted for an Anthony and an Edgar in 2011. DEADLY COMMUNION was shortlisted for an Edgar in 2012. The Liebermann books have been translated into fourteen languages and optioned for TV adaptation. Frank Tallis also writes horror and supernatural fiction as F.R.Tallis. THE FORBIDDEN (2012) THE SLEEP ROOM (2013) and THE VOICES (2014) are all published by Macmillan. For more information go to www.franktallis.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vi
Introduction	1	(4)
Obsessions	5	(12)
Anxiety Problems: How They Start and How They Can be Overcome	17	(9)
The Development of Obsessions and Compulsions, and How to Assess Your Symptoms	26	(9)
Exposure Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Changing the Way You Behave	35	(10)
Exposure Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Changing the Way You Think	45	(8)
Exposure Therapy for Compulsive Washing and Cleaning	53	(8)
Exposure Therapy and Other Techniques for Compulsive Checking	61	(14)
Self-help for Slowness, Symmetry, and Hoarding	75	(6)
Dealing with Upsetting Thoughts and Excessive Worry	81	(10)
Managing Obsessional Personality Traits	91	(5)
Coping with Concurrent Depression	96	(10)
Maintaining Gains, Coping with Setbacks, and Alternatives to Self-help	106	(6)
Glossary	112	(1)
Further Reading	113	(24)
Appendices
I Self-Assessment Questionnaire	117	(5)
II Instructions for Relaxation	122	(2)
III Self-Help Charts and Diaries	124	(10)
IV Pleasant Activities List	134	(2)
V A Note to Readers	136	(1)
Index	137