Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts: A CBT-Based Guide to Getting Over Frightening, Obsessive, or Disturbing Thoughts

I very rarely leave reviews but this book has compelled me to do so. I have been really struggling with overthinking and intrusive thoughts recently, this book has made me realise that its completely normal, its took the scariness away from it and made me rationalise my thoughts, a life saver! The authors totally get it, its informative, reassuring and doesnt shy away from talking taboo subjects to ensure that all intrusive thoughts are captured and normalised!!

I almost gave up half way through because my own personal anxiety which is a fear of sleep and fear of loss of control were not listed in the section of different types of fears but I am so glad I continued because the advice and training is not dependant on the anxious thought itself, but how you deal with the thought. Basically the second half of the book is for anyone with anxious thoughts that take over thie lives at any time. I really like the way it debunks some of the old bits of advice I have been given which have not worked for me, or indeed made things worse. The hardest part is as the end of the book when you actually have to face your fears, but having got to almost 40 with nobody to help me I figured it was worth a try because nothing else has worked. The good thing is that the book prepares for your all the little doubts that are going to come into your head so you know when they are coming and what to do about them. It isn’t easy but so far, after 30 years of suffering, this is the most comprehensive and common sense way of looking at anxiety I have found. I am also thinking very differently about how I approach the fears of my own children and the things I say to them to help address these fears. Thanks for writing this - i will spread the word.

Fantastic book, guide in understanding and more importantly accepting these thoughts. This has helped me massively through my recent struggles with OCD and anxiety. The way that intrusive thoughts are explained, I found to be Extraordinarily accurate in relation to my recent experience. I honestly thought I was alone but reading through this book was extremely interesting and reassuring to me, instead of feeling shame and guilt over these things I thought I would hide forever I have now opened up to my family and friends about this and feel I am finally starting to accept this part of me and move forward with my life. It will take time but having a book like this available to me makes me feel so much better about my own recovery. Please, anyone who is struggling with this, you are certainly not alone and there are people who understand and can help more than you know. Also if you are lucky enough to have a good support network around you... Use it!! It will be a load off your mind just not having to hide this from people. Remember, we are much more judgmental of ourselves than others will be and any good, loving person will understand and help you on your road to recovery.

Good book but I don’t recommend it you are having your first OCD episode. It will make you read the book over and over again for relief which is a compulsion. Author did a good job on explaining the thoughts!

Life changing book. I've recommended this to so many other OCD sufferers. The best money I've ever spent.

Very good book. Currently going through my lowest points, I'm on meds and I'm hoping this book will help (along with therapy). A lot, if not all, of my problems come from OCD intrusive thoughts and safety measures to do with health. The book made me nervous whilst reading it. I get physical symptoms with my health anxiety so the ideas in this book can be applied as well. Letting go and agreeing to let go of control is completely against my nature but its something I have to do. What's even harder to accept is that that means I can't guarantee that it'll work, or not come back, in fact it will. I can't just say "okay, so I won't experience (a) if I just stop caring. Great let's crack on then, not cracking on." Instead I have to say "I can try these techniques to see if they'll work, and hopefully it will- no matter how long it takes - but it'll happen again and I have to be okay with that." That's hard for a control freak to accept. The techniques it suggests make perfect sense and also for the dizziness I feel, it's actually exactly the sort of techniques they use in physical therapy to treat chronic dizziness. Expose yourself to the uncomfortable and anxious feeling until you no longer think or care about it.

I've been meaning to write a review for this book for a long time, and this is the first amazon review I have ever written. But I stronhly felt the authors needed to be thanked and congratulated for writing such a wise, yet simple and evidence based book. This advice in this book is practical, deceptively simple and yet somehow profoundly wise. I strongly feel the advice offered to embrace uncertainty and avoid reassurance, helps to being the mind naturally back into the present moment and back to a more natural allignment, more free from the general clutter which preoccupies us. I have enjoyed the freedom of escaping the power of the constant battle between my "reassurances" and my constant picking of holes in these "reassurances", uncertainty is after all inescapable, so the advice to embrace it, though counterintuitive at first, is wise and almost spiritual. I actually found this to be a deeply spiritual book. Thank you so much for producing such a practical guide to escaping from reassurance and the negative spiral of thinking this can produce. I personally have a long road to recovery but now I have a map. Thank you.

I have suffered episodes of this affliction for a few decades, the last episode was absolute torture. I'm glad I was brave enough to search the internet, as I found this book which changed everything. The only other option would have been therapy; costly and with no guarantees. You have to really trust the information and put it into practice, which I did. An amazing byproduct of reading this book was being conscious of how much mental noise I had in general, and discovering a window to inner peace.

Very Good and very important content.

Very interesting read. Gave me more understanding.

The goal of going to therapy for most people for intrusive thoughts is to help if not rid them of the shame, fear and secrecy that surrounds these thoughts. The thoughts themselves will never leave. With that said I think this book is an excellent companion or stand alone text. I have always been an advocate of sufferers diving head first into learning all they can about their disorders, being proactive and advocating for themselves with this knowledge if possible. No one wants to go to therapy or take medicine and feel like that is all that is keeping them afloat. This book does an excellent job of pinpointing the problem in an easy to understand manner and providing doable solutions to help. Personally this book has helped me and I hope that mental health practitioners read this book to get a better understanding of OCD sufferers with intrusive thoughts as well as recommend this book for those that do. I was so satisfied with this book that I did not hesitate to buy "Needing to know for sure by the same authors". As well I do not hesitate to re-read when I get off track or my OCD is being extremely persistent and I feel overwhelmed. This book helps me get back on track to start pinpointing what is going on and redo-ing steps to get it back under control. It is always hard, as OCD tends to be, but I am thankful to have such a reference that is easy to understand and laid out well enough to implement. This is the information I wish I had at my fingertips when I first started therapy.

Excellent book. Very useful

Helpful hints about dealing with sudden scary thoughts.