I have read a lot of different books about OCD, and this one stands out as unique. It focuses on the origins of OCD in the brain, and even though it provides self-help ideas, coping skills, and information about effective OCD therapies, a significant part of the book addresses the neuroscience of OCD, helping readers understand the role of the amygdala and cortex in fueling and prolonging anxiety.

This book is perfect for readers who are interested in a scientific angle on the subject, but people who aren't interested in science shouldn't let this element scare them away. The authors explain everything in clear, simple terms, and they use real-world analogies and illustrated figures to help people understand the workings of their brain. This can be a huge encouragement and help for people who have already read about intrusive thoughts and compulsions, but want to get a glimpse behind the curtain to why their brain has created and prolonged this issue to begin with.

Because this focuses so much on the brain's role in OCD, rather than the details of how people experience OCD, I wouldn't recommend this as someone's first resource. The authors do a great job of explaining different sub-types of OCD, and they illustrate their abstract points with concrete, detailed examples from OCD sufferers' diverse experiences, but if someone is just beginning to learn about OCD for themselves or a loved one, I would encourage them to start with another book that covers the topic more broadly, and then turn to this resource. This is a great way to build on an foundational understanding of the disorder, but I believe that people will get the most out of it if they have already addressed more basic questions and considerations about what OCD is.

I really appreciate this book and respect the effort that went into writing it. The coauthors write in a single, unified voice, and they keep the complex content easy to understand, instead of relying on psychological jargon. They also provide good, well-evidenced advice for the benefits of mindfulness, sleep, and healthy breathing to regulate anxiety, and include tips for how people can pursue these things if they find them difficult. They also write about CBT and ERP, and what they had to say about ERP was particularly helpful because of what they had already written about how the brain works. Someone who is resistant to trying exposure therapy is likely to find this book especially eye-opening, persuasive, and helpful.

This book is suitable for people to work through independently or alongside a therapist, and it can be helpful to a variety of audiences. I would recommend it to anyone suffering from OCD, and to those who support them, but it can also be helpful for people who suffer from anxiety, worry, or perfectionism more generally, even if they wouldn't quality for an OCD diagnosis. I found this book's content and perspective very helpful, and appreciate the authors' expertise and unique approach.

This book gets 5 stars! It is really helping me help a family member. I bought the hard copy and the audio for the family member and they have found it to be the most effective tool they have for managing their OCD.

Rewire your OCD brain by Catherine M. Pittman and William Youngs attempts to explain how and why your brain gets stuck in obsessive thoughts. This book delves deeply into the underpinnings of the brain and the two main areas of the brain that directly impact obsessive thinking: the amygdala and the cortex. The authors clearly explain these parts of the brain and how they contribute to and impact obsessive thinking patterns. Not only is the anatomy discussed, but also, proven strategies to combat your OCD. Some of these include: relaxation, exercise, sleep, distraction, and changing your thinking. This book is an amazing resource for anyone trying to not only gain a greater understanding of the biology behind OCD, but also, those that are trying to engage in techniques to combat OCD. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rewire Your OCD Brain by Catherine M. Pittman and William H. Youngs explains how your brain works and how you can take advantage of that to manage OCD.

The book focuses on the two main areas in the brain that are relevant to OCD, the cortex and amygdala. It explains the role of each, how they communicate with each other, and how that contributes to symptoms. Key points that are emphasized repeatedly are that thoughts are just thoughts, but the amygdala assumes they represent truth and generates the fight/flight/freeze response, which is misinterpreted as being a signal that there’s actual danger.

The authors also explain that the feeling like you’re going crazy sometimes actually makes a lot of sense when you know how the brain works, because the cortex (and therefore your conscious thought) isn’t in control of the vehicle when the amygdala is getting you ready to run away from the tiger that only exists in your thoughts. The authors aren’t dismissive with any of this, and reassure the reader that your amygdala is reacting the same way whether the tiger is in your thoughts or in front of you. There’s a lot of normalizing in a good way, as in, your brain does [x], so for you to experience [y] is to be expected, and it doesn’t mean you’re a freak.

The authors say that people with OCD underestimate how commonly people have random intrusive thoughts (it actually happens all the time), and a key difference is that in OCD, people get fused to their thoughts, thinking they represent absolute truth. These intrusive thoughts may come from the left hemisphere, which uses words, or the right hemisphere, which uses visuals and other sensory material.

After explaining all the background information on how things work, the book shifts into strategies for rewiring both the cortex and the amygdala. These strategies are all tied back into brain functioning, and the authors acknowledge that they may sound too simple to work, but they actually do. Exercise can help in the moment when you’re experiencing distress because the amygdala is preparing you to run away from the tiger, so exercising helps burn off some of that adrenaline rush. Slow, deep breathing recommended as the best anti-anxiety strategy there is, as it’s the most effective way to calm the amygdala. Exposure and response prevention is also discussed, and framed as the only way for the amygdala to learn what’s not dangerous.

I love the biology focus, because I’m really into that kind of thing in general. Even if it’s not generally your thing, though, knowing the underlying processes really helps to make it clear why OCD does what it does. Although it’s very brain-focused, the authors used clear, simple language without relying on a lot of jargon, and it doesn’t go into unnecessary detail. Everything is clearly related to how the brain stuff impacts the way people are feeling.

I think this book makes a great choice for anyone wanting to gain a greater understanding of the nuts and bolts behind OCD.



I received a reviewer copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

As someone who personally struggles with OCD, this book was an informative and enjoyable read. It was full of enlightening information, focusing mainly on the functions of the cortex and amygdala and how they play roles in the expressing of OCD. I know it can be hard to find information explaining OCD and why the brain does what it does, but this book explains it well.

I really enjoyed how this book gives practical steps to follow to beat your brain and to truly understand what you are experiencing. There's power in knowledge, and knowing why you experience OCD helps to treat it. I recommend this book to anyone struggling from OCD and for family members and friends to understand you better.

I struggle with pretty severe OCD. This book could be a game changer. Lots of practical and thought-provoking ways to use neuroplasticity to your advantage as an OCD sufferer.

This is a very technical book about OCD and anxiety. Much of the text focused on the brain itself from a biological standpoint... while some may find it helpful and interesting, it won’t appeal to everyone, especially since you have to get through more than half the book before getting to practical behavioral information. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy of this title.

As a clinician, I am always looking for resources to use with clients and to expand my knowledge base. Rewire Your OCD Brain offered concrete strategies to assist clients dealing with OCD that are rooted in evidence. Overall this is a helpful resource geared towards clients that finds its base in cognitive behavioral strategies.

This book wasn't quite what I expected. There are a lot of technical terms, which could turn off or even confuse the average reader. It was heavily focused on the biological side of OCD, which could be of interest to some people.

I didn't finish this book. I felt as though it focused too much on the biological side of OCD rather than the emotional side. It would definitely be a very interesting to somebody who is into that side of things, but it just wasn't what I was looking for. However, I am grateful to to NetGalley and the publisher for making this advanced copy available.

A detailed guide to the causes of OCD which can be summarised as anxiety, with compulsions that ease the anxiety, but need to be repeated, so they cause a problem. The book shows that the brain can be rewired, using a recent concept of neuroplasticity. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advance copy of this book , I really enjoyed it, and it is good that the authors gave such a detailed explanation of this exciting concept that the OCD brain can be rewired.