Being Me With OCD

Now available in paperback!

Part memoir, part self-help for teens, Being Me with OCD tells the story of how obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) dragged the author to rock bottom—and how she found hope, got help, and eventually climbed back to a fuller, happier life.

In the United States, about 1 in 100 adults and 1 in 200 kids have obsessive-compulsive disorder; the age of onset in more than 50 percent of adult cases is before age 15. Using anecdotes, self-reflection, guest essays, and thorough research, Dotson explains what OCD is and how readers with OCD can begin to get better. The essays in the book by teens with OCD provide additional perspectives of OCD so all readers can see themselves reflected in the book. With humor, specific advice, and an inspiring, been-there-beat-that attitude, readers will find the book simultaneously touching and practical.

Alison Dotson is a writer, copyeditor, and proofreader who was diagnosed with OCD at age 26, after suffering from “taboo” obsessions for more than a decade. Today, she still has occasional bad thoughts, but she now knows how to deal with them in healthy ways. Alison is the president of OCD Twin Cities, an affiliate of the International OCD Foundation. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband and two rescue dogs.