Obsessive Compulsive Disorders: Treating and Understanding Crippling Habits

by Steven Levenkron

Running fifteen miles a day without being in training . . . taking two-hour showers and constantly changing clothes . . . working twelve hours a day, six days a week . . . these are obsessive-compulsive disorders. Now a world-renowned psychotherapist explains what they are, how they come about, and what can be done about them.

Genres: Psychology, Mental Illness, Nonfiction

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Simone Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good insights, but overall too Freudian. Clearly, this book was written before there was better understanding of the disorder.

Here are my notes... I think I stopped taking them once I realized that the book wasn't going to have a lot of useful information... heheh... ^_^''

Treating and understanding crippling habits: Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, by Steven Levenkron

“when I was first studying psychology in 1960, obsessive-compulsive disorders were considered incurable but also of very little consequence. If someone was a compulsive hand-washer, so the thinking went, just give them some hand cream. But then came along anorexia nervosa, which certainly looks and sounds like one form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and health specialists could not simply give OCDs hand cream anymore. People were starving to death…. So suddenly it became important to understand the underlying causes of obsessive-compulsive disorders including those with a cleanliness defense.” (71-72)

-He noted, on several occasions, the need to establish a feeling of identity outside of the OCD
-He also seemed to think that dependency on others was a very important step, being that OCDs are so fiercly independent.
-He also noted that removing the source of anxiety leading to OCD does much to help

His “Anatomy of treatment for OCD”
1. Inviting dependency
2. Unmasking rituals
3. Talking in depth
4. Regulating anxiety
a. (these were on page 178)

[Frrobins · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book a psychotherapist who specializes in OCD and anorexia gives a brief overview of what OCD is and how to treat it. Levenkron posits that OCD develops when children are underparented and that the obsessions and compulsions develop because that is how the child learns to manage anxiety without the help of dependency upon on loving parent. Once I got through the first chapter, I found this an interesting idea, and while it did describe some cases of OCD I have seen, I've also seen cases that developed in rather authoritarian households where the kids were overparented. While I've not seen a lot of cases of anorexia, I have seen others speculate that it results from being in a very controlling family with food intake being the one thing the anorexic can control. I'm not sure what Levenkron would say to this, but given how anecdotal this book is and the fact that it had no reference section I do wonder if he suffers from some confirmation bias.

That said, I did find this book informative and helpful for offering a different perspective and bringing to light things I had never thought about. It also illuminated why some people may find it intimidating when the therapist allows them to set the agenda as the client, namely because it signals that the therapist will be another unreliable caregiver. I appreciated how Levenkron said that while this style of therapy does work for many people, for those who have a fear of dependency it would not be a good match.

I also enjoyed reading about how he worked with patients who would not talk. In fact, I wish he had gone into more depth here. I would enjoy a whole book devoted to this subject.

Overall I would recommend this book, even though it is rather old now. It has some insightful observations that are helpful to those who work in the mental health field and my biggest complaint is that he does not delve deeply enough into some topics I would have liked to hear more about.

[Chel Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I ever read in helping and understanding OCD.

[Chelsea Hamill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt informative- real life stories kept engagement and focus.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The occasional self-help book is a guilty pleasure. Had medium to low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. Just wanted to know what this condition meant exactly- i do not have it luckily... :) The extreme case described here include repetitive obsessive "rituals" like washing your hands 5 times or having objects placed in certain exact places or else all hell breaks loose- that kind of thing. (Described here as psychological soothers to compensate for insecurities and assurances lacking in the parenting/upbringing). Interesting read and worth finding out more if you're curious.