The Imp of the Mind: Exploring the Silent Epidemic of Obsessive Bad Thoughts

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Anyway, Baer focuses on the obsessive part of OCD (that's the imp, from Edgar Allen Poe's "Imp of the Perverse").

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

Including special sections on the prescription medications that have proven effective, it is and “a beautifully written book that can be a great help to people who want to know what to do about obsessions and ” (Isaac Marks, M. And ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ shows us that we all know this, deep down, because, deep down, we all have that impulse within us. Imagine you, yourself, committing the most upsetting imaginable action against a victim you care about deeply.Also, objectively hilarious how long the Imp of the Mind (a reference to Edgar Allen Poe's Imp of the Perverse) is referred to as a literal Imp. I read this book after it was suggested by my therapist, after a recent diagnosis of OCD 13 years after its onset at the beginning of high school. Baer de-stigmatizes these problematic thoughts, offers guidance for distinguishing between symptoms which are likely to be dangerous and the far more common troublesome thoughts which disturb the thinker but represent no threat of harm. This book differs from others on the topic as it also provides samples of many treatment plans, individual cases, detailed explanations and when to seek professional help (in general, it is good to have mental behavioral support in place before trying any treatment, such as exposure, as anxiety could increase and perhaps make you feel worse or that you're not 'doing it right'). This means you feel that the thoughts you are having are from another source other than your conscious involvement in them.

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

Baer describes several cases of the types of thoughts that torment OCD sufferers, but seen from the outside, his examples may lack the necessary impact to explain the suffering. Although I'm not as "special" as the patients listed in the case studies, this book made me accept that bad thoughts happen to everyone from time to time. The human mind is nothing if not productive, and not all of the thoughts it conjures are pleasant ones. The author makes effective use of what I presume to be literary techniques to demystify his subject. One of the most creative and lucid thinkers in the area of OCD… A marvelous book for the millions who suffer from painful thoughts.

It can be difficult for non-sufferers to understand and support those who experience obsessive intrusive thoughts OCD. This book was the first step in reconnecting me to humanity, by offering this simple truth: we all have thoughts, some thoughts perceived as “good” and some perceived as “bad. This section will be updated with lots of information, advice and features to help families understand and cope better with their loved one’s OCD. He then tells us that he committed murder by lighting a poisoned candle in the room of the man he murdered, so he could inherit the man’s estate. For anyone who has the feeling that your identity and moral standing is being compromised because of the thoughts in your head, this is an informative book for you.

The Imp of the Mind by Lee Baer: 9780452283077

It is merely the idea of what would be our sensations during the sweeping precipitancy of a fall from such a height. This book delves into the Imp of the Mind, that thing that makes people think of the worst possible thing they could do. I wish 13 year old me could have had access to this information, and in many ways reading this was an experience of grief. When exhausted from a day bombarded with obsessions and compulsions, it was validating to see an illness I had suffered so much from, and one in many ways I still didn’t understand fully, represented even clumsily on screen. You make it sound like the notion of suicide will hit you like getting cancer, like something you can't do anything about.I am not sure what sort of studies have been done on the personality traits of individuals with different forms of OCD. But such discomfort is not comparable to the experience of the insect caught inside: suffocating, thrashing blindly, digested alive in an oubliette of gastric acid. Baer was the first to bring international attention to the particularly painful problem of taboo obsessions in OCD, with the publication of his book “The Imp of the Mind”, which is used in bibliotherapy for this problem around the world. Baer aims to "normalize" bad thoughts, reassuring those that suffer from OCD that "every one of us from time to time" is visited by "bad thoughts". Nor will this overwhelming tendency to do wrong for the wrong's sake, admit of analysis, or resolution into ulterior elements.