Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts

Invisible Form of OCD Comes to Light in New Book

By everyone's account Mario is a gentle and responsible family man. Yet this successful financial planner and happily married father of two experiences frightening and repeated thoughts about kicking pregnant women, lunging at his wife with the knife he's using to prepare dinner, and socking a friendly coworker in the mouth.

That's because he struggles with a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that many of us aren't aware of. One that involves obsessive thoughts combined with largely mental rituals and compulsions. These obsessive thoughts are called repugnant obsessions. They involve thoughts about inflicting harm, committing a sex crime or a sexual gaffe, or engaging in a blasphemous or immoral act. Approximately 20 to 25 percent of those with obsessive-compulsive disorder-some 6.6 million Americans-suffer from of it.

In Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts, Christine Purdon and David Clark, two world-renowned researchers, offer help to people struggling with repugnant obsessions. They provide:

• Scientifically proven strategies for reducing the frequency of ritualistic and intrusive thoughts
• Tools for relieving anxiety
• Help for scrupulosity: religious-themed obsessions and compulsions
• A plan specifically designed for overcoming obsessions with themes of harm, violence, and sex
• Profiles of those with obsessive thoughts
• The latest research about what causes OCD and the best treatment for it.

For more information e-mail Lorna Garano or call 510-652-0215, x107.