Obsessed

A Memoir of My Life with OCD

By: Allison Britz

Narrated by: Emily Ellet

Until sophomore year of high school, 15-year-old Allison Britz lived a comfortable life in an idyllic town. She was a dedicated student with tons of extracurricular activities, friends, and loving parents at home. But after awakening from a vivid nightmare in which she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she was convinced the dream had been a warning. Allison believed that she must do something to stop the cancer in her dream from becoming a reality.

It started with avoiding sidewalk cracks and quickly grew to counting steps as loudly as possible. Over the following weeks, her brain listed more dangers and fixes. She had to avoid hair dryers, calculators, cell phones, computers, anything green, bananas, oatmeal, and most of her own clothing.

Unable to act "normal," the once-popular Allison became an outcast. Her parents questioned her behavior, leading to explosive fights. When notebook paper, pencils, and most schoolbooks were declared dangerous to her health, her GPA imploded, along with her plans for the future.

Finally, she allowed herself to ask for help and was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This brave memoir tracks Allison's descent and ultimately hopeful climb out of the depths.

©2017 Allison Britz (P)2020 Tantor

Amazing!

This is a well told story of courage and strength of a fight against OCD and coexistence with OCD.

I wanted more!

I listened to this in one day. It’s a fascinating look into the mind of a teen with OCD, and it reminded me of my struggles and successes with panic disorder. I just wish it were a few chapters longer.

Great depiction of OCD

The author captures the emotions around OCD well. The narrator did a great job as well.

A great contribution

I have read a lot about OCD and I know people that have it, but I really had no idea of what it could feel like to experience it. The author lets us enter her brain and hear every thought while she was ill, over a period of several months. It was really stressful to listen to the first half of the book, as her OCD experience was stressful and even cruel. Once the diagnosis and healing therapies began, I could barely put it down. The author offers such hope and encouragement through sharing her story. I think this book will help OCD sufferers, mental health practitioners, family members, and anyone who is interested. Well done!

Very Interesting!

The narrator was really amazing! The writing captures well the terrible experience of the author. I got frustrated wondering when the horror would end for her. There seemed no end in sight. I listened at 1.7x speed. I learned a lot. I recommend this book.

Good Overall

I also have OCD, mine is very different than the authors but she did a great job explaining what it’s like, the fear and anxiety.

This book is amazing

THIS WILL SPOIL THE BOOK. This book is about an ordinary girl living in ordinary life she was a dedicated student with friends and many hobbies but one night she had a very vivid nightmare that changed her whole life. That dream made Alison believe that she had to do certain things to prevent her from having brain cancer. First she couldn’t step on any sidewalk cracks. But quickly grew to bethat she has to avoid many things these things are things that she would usually use in her everyday life. Her parents quickly noticed something was off so they took her to the doctor the doctor said she needs to see a psychiatrist. They noticed that she’s OCD and obsessive compulsive disorder. The psychiatrist helped with your worries and soon after many practices On getting over the things she couldn’t do on her own she had went to college and started living a normal life with friends and many hobbies. There are many challenges during this time but she had gotten through them and she lived the rest of her life happily

Daughter asked me to listen

Helped me understand what my daughter is going through. I recommend it to anyone who loves someone with OCD.

THIS is how you write a mental health book

Wow. This book reads like fiction in the best way. I loved the writing style. Personally, I didn't think it was slow and the disorder continually escalating was both realistic and important for tension. The descriptions were impressively vivid. As an avid mental-health-book reader and writer, and budding psychologist, this book ticked all the boxes.

In college a professor of mine studied scrupulosity-- or religious OCD-- something I have rarely heard about in academia, nonetheless in fiction or popular media. This includes the "voice of God" and OCD manifesting like an eating disorder (eating less to appease God in some way), such as Allison experienced.

Few mental health books are able to convey the loneliness of psychopathology while still conveying the idea that there are other people around, wanting to help. The tensions were realistic-- between the social awkwardness and the internal anxiety, friends/family desire to help and lack of understanding, Allison wanting help and not wanting anyone to know. While it would seem obvious that this realism would come out of a memoir, other from-lived-experience type books (such as Turtles All The Way Down, in my opinion) do not get there.

This book also makes an effort to point out the variance in OCD presentation, especially that it isn't just about cleanliness/contamination or organization. It also doesn't end when Allison gets to therapy the first time nor end on an unrealistically happy note as some mental health fiction does.

Couldn’t stop listening

As a healthcare worker that works at a behavioral health facility, I found this book super intriguing and I think it will help me understand those patients with OCD better. I also thought the narration was great!