The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing: The Experience and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

by Judith L. Rapoport

Overview

Up to six million Americans suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Petty thoughts and pointless rituals that sufferers are powerless to stop, repeating them over and over until they feel as though they've "gotten it right." In this landmark study, eminent psychiatrist Judith L. Rapoport recounts the extraordinary experiences of dozens of her patients and discusses new and existing treatments. Also included are guidelines for diagnosis as well as resources and references. This important book is for everyone who is fascinated with the workings of the human mind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452263659
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/30/1990
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	505,362
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 7.95(h) x 0.59(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dr. Judith L. Rapoport is Chief of the child Psychiatry Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health. A graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Mediacl School, she has been the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award from the U.S. Public Health Service and the Ittleson Prize in Child Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association. She lives with her family in Washington D.C.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction	1
Part I	The Patients Speak: Parents
1	The Auto Accident That Never was	21
2	Rituals and Contaminations: Zach and His Family	43
Part II	The Patients Speak: Children
3	Paul: Stuck in the Doorway	67
4	Arnie: The Paper Route	72
5	Morris: Mr. Clean	75
Part III	A Doctor's Perspective
6	The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing	82
7	The Doubting Disease	87
8	Is Ocd A Brain Disease?	89
9	Unlearning to Understand	97
10	Anafranil: A Wonder Drug?	102
11	David's Drug Odyssey	105
12	How Sweet it is!	108
13	The Hidden	110
14	No Joke	115
15	The Music Goes 'Round and 'Round	119
16	My Mind on My Mind	124
17	Over and Over Again	129
18	The Secret Life of A Street Person	132
19	Count Me Out	137
20	Love Story	142
21	Aids: The New Obsession	146
22	The Hair-Pulling Women	149
23	Innocent Sinners	154
24	A Thousand Commitments to God	159
Part IV	On the Boundaries
25	The Obsessionality of Everday Life	177
26	Knock Wood	185
27	Grooming and Nesting	187
28	I Can't Get You Out of My Mind	200
29	Free Will and the Uncertainty of Knowing	207
Part V	Do You Have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
30	Making the Diagnosis	223
31	What to do if You Have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder	228
	Epilogue	235
Appendix	The Religious Perspective	237
	References and Suggested Reading	247
	Index	251

Editorial Reviews

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disease that afflicts approximately four million Americans with a need to perform complex, pointless rituals, or to be completely preoccupied with petty thoughts. ``Casebook, shocking report and support tool all in one, this excellent volume is highly readable and free of jargon,'' reported PW . (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

"Deeply moving and impressive."
—Oliver Sacks, M.D., author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

"Offers help to millions who suffer in silence."
—Chicago Tribune

"First-rate meticulous clinical observation and state-of-the-art laboratory studies illuminate an important human problem."
—Leon Eisenberg, M.D., Harvard Medical School

"This book, with its information and lively writing, and informed by the author's obvious compassion for her patients, makes an important contribution to understanding an intriguing and irrational illness."
—The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher