Breaking the Rules of OCD is a really helpful book for people who have or are loved ones of someone who has OCD. A must-read for anyone who feels they need some advice on OCD.

This book about living with OCD is written in a very conversational style, and it explains complex concepts in simple ways, without bogging down in scientific details that may not appeal to the average reader. The author covers a wide variety of different sub-types, which I appreciated, and in addition to addressing particular therapies that work well with OCD, she also wrote topical chapters about specific struggles that people with OCD usually have, such as believing that they have to be certain about things, or that you have to pay attention to and analyze every thought you have.

The author includes case studies and examples throughout the book about people with different types of OCD, but these are just illustrations. I appreciate that instead of taking a deep dive into individual stories and drawing implications from them, she focuses on broad themes and experiences that are common across OCD types, and just uses specific examples to illustrate how someone can deal with this. Overall, I thought this book was clear and helpful, and I would recommend it to people who are suffering from OCD, and to their support systems. This book's conversational style and accessibility will make it especially helpful for people who are new to learning about OCD.

I really enjoyed this book and found it very helpful. I received this as an advanced reader copy, so there were a few typos, but I am sure they are fixed now. As someone who struggles with OCD, this book helped me to learn new tips and tricks for overcoming obsessive thoughts and compulsions. It covers a wide range of the different types of OCD, and I believe it would be beneficial to anyone struggling.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!!

Interesting. I struggle with OCD and this helped me a lot. I will definitely use some of the tools, and it's very clearly explained. Very good book thank you!

Breaking the Rules of OCD was a book that really intrigued me after some mental health work led to a diagnosis of OCD. I’ve been on a journey of research for the meanings of some of my mental health behaviors and tools for dealing with them. Breaking the Rules of OCD is a comprehensive book full of information on OCD symptoms and tools. Going into this book felt a little more personal to me, so I really took my time in writing out tools and focusing on the practices and little tests that were included. Now I feel much more knowledgeable and prepared about OCD.

I have read a lot of non-fiction books in the name of learning and frequently can’t wait to put them down.

This book was written in such a conversational way I actually found myself caught up in what I was reading.

And learning-wise boy did I learn a lot. The author does a great job of spelling out the many forms of OCD in a way that anyone can understand and making the book easily digestible.

As someone with someone close to me with OCD I appreciated the information and ideas in this book. It enlightened me on many aspects of OCD, and made it easier to understand the daily struggles this person deals with. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about how OCD affects daily life.

This book is not for diagnosing our mental health. It's for self-knowledge. If you're struggling with any rituals that don't make sense, i recommend you to read this book.

I LOVE this book. It speaks to the reader as an actual human being, unlike many other books on OCD that I have read. As someone who has suffered with OCD for over 20 years, I am well aware that there is no quick fix to this mental health condition and this book really helps the reader to understand that too! It is about "practicing more flexible responses" to OCD rather than miraculously getting rid of it.

I will be purchasing this book upon its release and also suggesting it to others who I know live with OCD too.

I have been looking for a book like this - I was diagnosed with OCD relatively recently, and so much of the available resources are dry and medical in nature. This book is insightful, easy to read, and is broken up into digestible chunks. There is so much valuable information presented beautifully. A definite recommendation for anyone looking to learn more about OCD.

Breaking the Rules of OCD is equal parts challenging and empowering--I loved adding to the tools in my treatment toolkit. I always reach for New Harbinger titles because I know they're backed by data and research, and this book is no exception!

Thank you to New Harbinger and NetGalley for the ARC!

I've had OCD for as long as I can remember, have been on meds for years, and have been through a few years on therapy. As I result, I feel at least mildly qualified to review this book.

It definitely echoes a lot of what I heard/worked on therapy (which is a good thing), and there's some parts that were still relevant and helpful despite how much time I've put into managing my OCD. It's very up to date, which is always important for medical books, and it's clear the author is knowledgeable and passionate about helping people with OCD. I also really appreciate how frank and honest she was about sexual and violent intrusive/obsessive thoughts, because there is a lot of shame (and a feeling of inability to tell anyone) around those kinds of thoughts, so just putting it out there so people know they're not alone is valuable. The examples in general resonated with me and felt like realistic portrayals of OCD. I also liked that she called out how poorly OCD is stereotyped in the media.

I do wish the section about co-morbidities and how they may impact your ability to work on your OCD was a little bit longer, since it IS so common for people to be dealing with other mental illnesses. I also think a little more could have been said in general with managing your OCD when there's a lot of (often uncontrollable) outside factors impacting your well-being.

Overall, I think if you can't afford therapy, this book would be a really helpful place to start if you want to tackle your OCD and learn to live with it. If you are in therapy, it would be handy to have as a reference book, and you could do some of the exercises with your therapist, which I think would benefit a lot of people as well. And finally, if you don't have OCD and you're curious about it because it impacts a loved one of yours, this is a great insight into the myriad of ways OCD can impact someone's life.

I've looked for books about OCD before but have not really found one that spoke to me. This one did, however. It felt really good to read from a professional's perspective about OCD. Having it explained to me already took some of the anxiety off. I felt the exercises a little unneccessary sometimes, but that is just because my own personal OCD works the way it does. A lot of the exercises I did not have to do because I already had those things analysed by my therapist and I knew the answer. Regardless, this book is very informative and also helpful!