Lee Baer considered E.A. Poe's description of the nature of obsessive compulsive thought, although not directly attributed by him, as the most elegant and complete, beyond any doctor's thesis or description. He shares it in the book and it here follows: Otter wrote:I have not read the book, but almost any reason that brings someone to admit to having suicidal thoughts is going to yield the response, "get help immediately". Even if suicidal intrusive OCD thoughts are like most other OCD thoughts (irrational), most responses are still going to be "get help immediately". At that point in my illness I was devouring every bit of vaguely “OCD” media I could find: documentaries, news reports, reality TV, celebrity interviews, standup comedy, even specials about psych wards in general – anything that gave me some insight into the humanity of a person with mental illness. I want to ask you if YOU REALLY WANT TO COMMIT SUICIDE, but I'm not sure you can give me a clear answer, because you are obsessing.

The Imp of the Mind: Exploring the Silent Epidemic of The Imp of the Mind: Exploring the Silent Epidemic of

This book delves into the Imp of the Mind, that thing that makes people think of the worst possible thing they could do. Similar to driving down the road and having that intrusive thought of driving your car into incoming traffic. Most people who think that can think, "wow, that's a bit of a crazy thought", then just go on with their day. Others, especially those suffering from other mental issues put a lot of value or weight on this thought and start to obsess about it. And as this book teaches through examples, these thoughts don't define us. They are simply just a bad thought but the more you obsess about it, the more you try to repress the thought the more powerful the thought becomes.The interesting thing about how the author (who, incidentally, is also a psychiatrist and researcher, making this so much better) looks at the problem is that he takes a look at a condition, obsessive thoughts, as the main problem of the individual themselves, and then helps them come to an understanding of why they are obsessing over those thoughts. All those sentences are full of fear. You are scared. This is how anxiety screws up logic in the thought process. I t creates an internal dialogue that is full of contradictions, so it can end up with the perfect kind of fear. These are some quotes used by Baer from near the book's opening that set the stage for this deeply compassionate and insightful view by this excellent OCD psychologist.

The Imp of the Mind: Exploring the Silent Epidemic of O… The Imp of the Mind: Exploring the Silent Epidemic of O…

The Imp of Perverse visits every one of us from time to time, with two possible outcomes: (1) We give the thoughts little attention and no credence and go on with our lives, or (2) we are strongly affected by the bad thoughts, so that the thoughts occur frequently during the day and interfere with our functioning socially or at work.” What made me really enjoy this was that the book wasn't pretentious in just telling you the scientific views. Instead it delved into not just one but multiple different cases from actual patients. The included the bad thoughts, sometimes in graphic detail that these patients were experiencing. It also explored certain mental ailments that could make the "Imp of the Mind" more powerful. A useful resource, though I think the author should have made an effort to distinguish more between OCD and "pure O", where the former is accompanied by a compulsive action often unrelated to the nature of the obsession, i.e. the seemingly nonsensical repetition of flipping a light switch on-and-off to prevent someone's family member from getting into a car accident, and where "pure O" is limited to intrusive thoughts without the accompanying compulsion to perform a specific action to rid oneself of such thoughts. It honestly strikes me as tragic that intrusive thoughts about harm inevitably target either ourselves or the people closest to us; those we love and most fear harming: Parents, siblings, romantic partners, spouses, children and grandchildren (especially in the case of the many mothers [41% of those with postpartum depression] who experience these thoughts for the first time about their child).not only are these bad thoughts universal among all humans today, but they have almost certainly always been a part of the human condition, at least since man first developed language and then rules to govern appropriate behavior in groups."

Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Imp of the A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Imp of the

Dr. Lee Baer combines the latest research with his own extensive experience in treating this widespread syndrome. Drawing on information ranging from new advances in brain technology to pervasive social taboos, Dr. Baer explores the root causes of bad thoughts, why they can spiral out of control, and how to recognise the crucial difference between harmless and dangerous bad thoughts.More often than not, the OCD sufferer is seen as quirky and oh-so-endearing, not dissimilar to a dim pet that you look on lovingly but pityingly. Usually, their function in the story is funny and silly and, most importantly, their illness is something they want to do, rather than something they would do anything to get rid of. The book covers the nature of the disease, illustrated with case histories, the type of people most likely to suffer from it and the main treatments, both drug and non-drug based. Most people who are thinking about committing suicide, know that they want to commit suicide on some level. In other words, it is THEIR IDEA. You may also be interested in my columns: Confessing Intrusive Thoughts and How to Stop Compulsively Confessing OCD Intrusive Thoughts

It’s no wonder we still think OCD is a neatness illness – it

OCD impacts on the lives of the whole family, especially those that love and care for people with OCD.

The Perfectionist’s Handbook: Take Risks, Invite Criticism, and Make the Most of Your Mistakes By Jeff Szymanski, PhD Skim the surface of the OCD community and you’ll see this terrifying reality clearly: there are people with OCD all around us who don’t know they have OCD. They live in secret, terrified to tell anyone about the intrusive thoughts they hate. And this is due in large part to how media presents OCD: at best shallow and quirky and at worst downright incorrect. Well that's the thing. I don't think these are intrusive thoughts caused by OCD. I am in not really scared of these thoughts. They're almost comforting... and that's what scares me. What if my harm thoughts are not caused by OCD? What if I'm truly having these thoughts but fighting them because of my moral upbringing? What if one day I give in? That's what scares me. I just don't want there to be a link. I pray to God that my harm thoughts are from OCD. It explored the fact that all people have these thoughts and while the majority of people can just let the thoughts pass and not worry about it, some people can not. These people usually spurned on OCD or postpartum depression, to PTSD and so on can latch onto these thoughts and obsess over them, thinking they are evil people.