Brain Lock, Twentieth Anniversary Edition: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior Paperback – Illustrated, December 6, 2016

Excellent book and extremely helpful!

Although overly simplistic and poorly written, this book has been incredibly helpful for me as a person who has suffered with OCD since childhood. I had never identified my OCD as such until college, although vaguely I always knew something was going awry in my mind (I guess I just thought everyone had these same struggles).A counselor recommended this book, so I skimmed through it and began trying the '4 steps' (summary later in the review). At first it was counterintuitive and seemed like I was leaving important thoughts behind. In time I began to realize those 'important thoughts' were my obsessions, and that constantly refocusing mitigated their power to depress or paralyze me.I joined a meditation group and have realized that the steps in this book are similar to what I learned there. Both are a conscious process of 1) Observing thoughts as they come to mind 2) Allowing those thoughts to be in the mind without judgement 3) Allowing oneself to refocus on the present. Mr. Schwartz showed that this process causes actual changes in brain chemistry over time, decreasing the frequency and intensity of intruding thoughts.This book has had the greatest effect on me of any book I have ever read. It may not work for all kinds of OCD, but it sure worked for me. Here's a summary of the steps:Step 1: RELABELRecognize that the intrusive obsessive thought is a COMPULSIVE one. Recognize it by saying "There's that compulsive thought again." The goal is to control your responses to the thoughts, not to control the thoughts themselves.Step 2: REATTRIBUTERealize that the intensity and intrusiveness of the thought is caused by its compulsive nature. You did not cause the thought to occur. It just is there. There is nothing you can do to make it go away immediately. Trying to make them go away will only pile stress on stress.Step 3: REFOCUSJust because the obsessive thought or compulsion intrudes, it does not mean you have to act on it. Work around the compulsive thought by focusing your attention on something else, at least for a few minutes: DO ANOTHER BEHAVIOR. You must train yourself in a new method of responding to the thoughts, redirecting your attention to something other than the compulsive thought. The goal is to stop responding to the compulsive thoughts while acknowledging that, for the short term, these uncomfortable feelings will continue to bother you. You learn that even though the compulsive thought is there, it doesn't have to control what you do. By REFOCUSING, you reclaim your decision-making power. The thoughts in your brain are no longer running the show. Refocusing isn't easy. It will take significant effort and even tolerance of some pain. But only by learning to resist the compulsions can you, in time, decrease the pain. The idea is to delay your response to an obsessive thought or to your urge to perform a compulsive behavior by letting some time elapse-preferably at least fifteen minutes-before you even consider acting on the urge or thought. In the beginning or when the urges are very intense, you may need to set a shorter waiting time, say five minutes, as your goal. Note: Sometimes the urge will be too strong, and you will perform the compulsion. This is not an invitation to beat yourself up.Step 4: REVALUEDo not take the compulsive thought at face value. It is not significant in itself. You do not have to act on the compulsive thought. After adequate training in the first three steps, you are able in time to place a much lower value on the compulsive thoughts and urges. Although in the short run, you can't change your feelings you can change your behavior. By changing your behavior, you find that your feelings also change in time.

Recommended to read by someone who has OCD. It is a self help book and does a good job of explaining this disease.

After years of psychotherapy and countless medication changes I found it a losing battle that seemed to have no end. My psychiatrist had moved out of town and I was assigned a new psychiatrist. At our first meeting she suggested I sounded like I had OCD. Being that everyone claims to have OCD I was initially thinking "oh great another meaningless diagnosis". She then referred me to a specialist that treats OCD. The specialist recommended this book to me along with the OCD Workbook.As soon as I opened this book up I saw that 99% of my problem was in-fact OCD. I have what is called "Pure-O". It means that all of the compulsions and obsessions go on in my head. I dont need to constantly touch things or do rituals other than ones I do in my head like saying repeated mantras.This simple fact freed me from many of my outlandish obsessions almost immediately! The more subtle ones, however do persist. Realizing that OCD is a physiological and not just a psychological disorder is also empowering.This book gives 4 simple to understand and perform new rituals that in time actually rewire the brain to some extent. I may never be totally free from OCD, but I will be able to better manage its ravaging nature, and to me makes this one of the best books I have ever read.

Didn’t come with the jacket. Wanted to to see the brain scan. My husband and I both have OCD. This was painful but we were both ready to hear this. Due to compulsion I could understand why he repeated the 4 steps. We have to break free from one form of thinking to replace it with the right type of thinking.Great Guide.

A good book for the brain.

I was diagnosed with severe OCD when I was 5 years old, and have been dealing with it ever since. The biggest brekathrough in therapy came when I started seeing a psychiatrist at 13, and she recommended this book. At the time, I sat down with the book and a highlighter, and read every word, highlighting the parts that were the most relevant to me. Without a doubt, "Brain Lock" saved my life. Following these steps allowed me to get my life back. While doing the steps was and still is the hardest thing I've ever committed to, it works.The book uses real life examples of people who have been through treatment, and explains things in a simple enough way that you can grasp the concepts without having to over-think what you're looking at.I'm 31 years old, and over the years have read it cover to cover many times, and when I'm having a setback, I still read the highlights. I also have it on kindle for iphone so I'm never without a copy. The book is meant to be used in conjunction with exposure response prevention and/or medication, but I found that it also works wonders on its own. I would absolutely recommend to anyone that is struggling with OCD. I will never be without a copy of Brain Lock.