The Man Who Couldn't Stop by David Adam, Paperback, 9781447277682 | Buy online at The Nile
Departments
 Free Returns*

The Man Who Couldn't Stop

The Truth About OCD

Author: David Adam  

Paperback

An intimate look at the power of intrusive thoughts, how our brains can turn against us and what it means to live with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Read more
$25.38
Or pay later with
Check delivery options
Paperback

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

An intimate look at the power of intrusive thoughts, how our brains can turn against us and what it means to live with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Read more

Description

Have you ever had a strange urge to jump from a tall building, or steer your car into oncoming traffic? You are not alone. In this captivating fusion of science, history and personal memoir, writer David Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind, and how they drive millions of us towards obsessions and compulsions.David has suffered from OCD for twenty years, and The Man Who Couldn't Stop is his unflinchingly honest attempt to understand the condition and his experiences. What might lead an Ethiopian schoolgirl to eat a wall of her house, piece by piece; or a pair of brothers to die beneath an avalanche of household junk that they had compulsively hoarded? At what point does a harmless idea, a snowflake in a clear summer sky, become a blinding blizzard of unwanted thoughts? Drawing on the latest research on the brain, as well as historical accounts of patients and their treatments, this is a book that will challenge the way you think about what is normal, and what is mental illness.Told with fierce clarity, humour and urgent lyricism, this extraordinary book is both the haunting story of a personal nightmare, and a fascinating doorway into the darkest corners of our minds.

Read more

Awards

Short-listed for Royal Society Winton Science Book Prize 2015 (UK)

Read more

Critic Reviews

“Clear-sighted and eminently accessible ... a fundamentally important book that will bring a breath of fresh understanding to sufferers - as well as mental-health professionals, and family and friends of anyone who exhibits symptoms of OCD. I urge anyone to buy it. It will make you think again”

Sunday Times
A fascinating study of the living nightmare that is obsessive compulsive disorder ... one of the best and most readable studies of a mental illness to have emerged in recent years ... an honest and open and, yes, maybe life-changing work -- Matt Haig Observer
Combines a scientific account of OCD from ancient times to the most recent research with passages of tenderly written memoir Telegraph
The Man Who Couldn't Stop is quite simply book of the year, on living with OCD: just buy it now -- Adam Rutherford
Superb... A brave and helpful contribution to deepening our understanding of the intricate complexities of mental ill-health The Times
Adam recounts his journey with humour and detachment Literary Review
[An] engaging, exhaustively researched neuro memoir, a blend of brain science and personal history Evening Standard
This blew me away. Stunning -- Ian Sample Guardian
An insider's tour of the OCD brain, providing insight into the cultural and scientific evolution of how we view and treat a disorder that affects up to 3% of people worldwide Nature
A captivating first-person account of how a blizzard of unwanted thoughts can become a personal nightmare. At times shocking, at times tragic, at times unbelievably funny, it is a wonderful read Focus
A lucid, humane ­- only intermittently autobiographical - science book ... offers a clear history through riveting case studies and the work of key figures Metro
David Adam, a successful writer, is also a sufferer of obsessive compulsive disorder ... He covers the history of OCD, the treatments that have been tried without success, and his experience of cognitive behavioural therapy, CBT, which was greatly helpful. A well-written, thorough account Independent
Well-researched, witty, honest and irreverent, Adam's account proves as irresistible as his subject Kirkus Reviews

Read more

About the Author

Dr David Adam is a writer and editor at Nature, the world's leading scientific journal. Before that he was a specialist correspondent on the Guardian for seven years, writing on science, medicine and the environment. He was named feature writer of the year by the Association of British Science Writers, and reported from Antarctica, the Arctic, China and the depths of the Amazon jungle.

Read more

Back Cover

'[A] fascinating study of the living nightmare that is obsessive compulsive disorder' Matt Haig, Observer Have you ever had a strange urge to jump from a tall building, or steer your car into oncoming traffic? You are not alone. Writer David Adam has suffered from OCD for twenty years and in this captivating fusion of science, history and personal memoir, he explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind, and how they drive millions of us towards obsessions and compulsions. Told with fierce clarity, humour and urgent lyricism, this extraordinary book is both the haunting story of a personal nightmare and a fascinating doorway into the darkest corners of our minds. 'Adam recounts his journey with humour and detachment' Literary Review 'A brave and helpful contribution to deepening our understanding of the intricate complexities of mental ill-health' The Times 'A captivating first-person account' BBC Focus

Read more

Product Details

Publisher
Pan Macmillan | Picador
Published
12th February 2015
Edition
Main Market Ed.
Pages
336
ISBN
9781447277682

Returns

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.

$25.38
Or pay later with
Check delivery options