Rating: 
Summary: Well Written and Easy to Follow - Cures more than OCD !
Review: "Brain Lock" was recommended to me from my sister and I found it very helpful too. In the Intro, the author says that his 4 step method is useful for other bad habits too, such as nail biting and over-eating - you name it. Dr Schwartz gives several interesting real-life examples that help you to visualize how you can actually help yourself. It was very readable and easy to follow. So even if you are not suffering from the more extreme types of OCD, you can help yourself relabel the problem and refocus on other better things, and bring more happiness and peace into your life. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Multiple Examples of OCD[ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder]
Review: 4/5/03 Book contains multiple examples of OCD;Its Forward(pg xi) uses an example of "the Howard Hughes "patron to the stars and his symptons manifesting as early as 1947 with his being overwhelmed by the disease by 1976.The book ends with its 4 step summation of self-help: 1. recognize the disease 2. realize its cause is a chemical imbalance 3.Refocus(do another behavior vs the OCD) 4. Do not take the OCD thought at face value as being significant in itself.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! A DYI approach to OCD and related disorders.
Review: A friend gave me this book and it is excellent. If you have OCD or even a related disorder it gives you a practical approach to learning to deal with and outsmart your disorder. Take me, frinstance, while I do not have any checking compulsions, I have suffered from anxiety disorder and occasionally intrusive, disturbing thoughts for a number of years. (Other than that I am your regular guy, you wouldn't know I had a disorder if you saw me). This book gives you a 4-step method of "reframing" OCD in a way that makes it manageable. Ultimately, the authors say, by using their method you can "retrain your brain" and actually alter your brain chemistry in a positive direction and thus reduce the original symptoms to something liveable. Buy it (or have a friend give it to you...) :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Reinforces how behavior modifiation assists in the treatment
Review: After just a few pages you begin to see light at the end of the tunnel. The main point I want to make is that it works...if you keep at it. Otherwise its easy to slip back into hold habits. The personal stories really help. I'm thankful I'm not as bad as some people. Highly recommend the book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent self help! Finally help for a sufferer.
Review: An excellent piece, for the first time my friend has found help for OCD. You clearly define it and give steps to living with it. One comment, I feel an important element was left out....hunger and OCD are synomious. It is important for persons with OCD to eat at regular intervals. This lessens the OCD attacks. Hunger exasperates OCD. Thank you for the Brain Lock book and Tape. My friend has played the tape 40 times and feels it is his personal therapist. Thanks for helping!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Helpful Study in Overcoming O.C.D.
Review: As a sufferer of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, I found "Brain Lock" to be extremely helpful in finding new ways to break the habits of OC behavior. My counselor Mark introduced me to the book. Not only is it a comfort to read (including some witty comic strips), but it doesn't stick to the standard and sometimes ineffective methods of curing OCD (i.e...just stop it). The book gives us examples of the many different kinds of these symptoms and in turn, shows us many ways to help ourselves. This workbook also has a subtle touch that challenges all those who claim OCD to be the "common cold" of psychiatry. I recommend "Brain Lock" to anyone with OCD, but also for those who are learning to become psychiatrists, counselors, etcetera.
Rating: 
Summary: Very bad
Review: Basically, for all practical purposes this book is worthless. But for inspiration and stories, it's not too bad. I have OCD (checking), and I've already tried the same suggestions the book offers before I even bought it. And as you might have guessed, they don't work. It tells you, in four steps, to simply tell yourself it's just OCD when you feel a obsession coming on, to think about how OCD works, distract yourself with another task and then go over in your head how stupid OCD is. If you have OCD and are reading this, you've probably already come to the conclusion that this these steps won't work. We've tried telling ourselves hundreds of times -- as we've done them -- that our obsessiveness and compulsions are just medical conditions. We've tried to understand how OCD works, and we've tried to distract ourselves. What the author doesn't understand is that you can't just STOP giving into these obsessions and in turn performing a compulsion. It doesn't work that way. It NEVER works that way. In any case, doing what the author instructs will only make it worse. All you'd be doing is what you've been doing all along, and if that hasn't been working, this won't. But don't fret: If you have OCD, and are reading this, there is a way out. Basically, you fight fire with fire. Like any personality disorder or addiction, OCD was something that gradually got worse and worse until it was at the state that it's in. Therefore, you have to gradually act on your obsessions less and less. Telling yourself to only check or clean a few times is pretty easy and only takes a little bit of willpower compared to the seemingly impossible task of not doing it at all, which takes the bravery of a knight in shining armor, gleaming sword and all. And it works, too. It's amazing! I figured this out a couple of days ago and it's working already. I check something a few times, and then just walk away. I can tell my disorder is going away, too, because it's trying to take the form of another form of OCD: fear of hurting other people. But anyone who's had OCD and ocassionaly defeats a compulsion knows that another takes its place and with just a little willpower they can resist it. In conclusion, buy this book only if you want some inspiration or are doing research on OCD for a class or something. If not, and you just want to plain old get rid of it, just take my advice.
Rating:
Summary: Very bad
Review: Basically, for all practical purposes this book is worthless. But for inspiration and stories, it's not too bad. I have OCD (checking), and I've already tried the same suggestions the book offers before I even bought it. And as you might have guessed, they don't work. It tells you, in four steps, to simply tell yourself it's just OCD when you feel a obsession coming on, to think about how OCD works, distract yourself with another task and then go over in your head how stupid OCD is. If you have OCD and are reading this, you've probably already come to the conclusion that this these steps won't work. We've tried telling ourselves hundreds of times -- as we've done them -- that our obsessiveness and compulsions are just medical conditions. We've tried to understand how OCD works, and we've tried to distract ourselves. What the author doesn't understand is that you can't just STOP giving into these obsessions and in turn performing a compulsion. It doesn't work that way. It NEVER works that way. In any case, doing what the author instructs will only make it worse. All you'd be doing is what you've been doing all along, and if that hasn't been working, this won't. But don't fret: If you have OCD, and are reading this, there is a way out. Basically, you fight fire with fire. Like any personality disorder or addiction, OCD was something that gradually got worse and worse until it was at the state that it's in. Therefore, you have to gradually act on your obsessions less and less. Telling yourself to only check or clean a few times is pretty easy and only takes a little bit of willpower compared to the seemingly impossible task of not doing it at all, which takes the bravery of a knight in shining armor, gleaming sword and all. And it works, too. It's amazing! I figured this out a couple of days ago and it's working already. I check something a few times, and then just walk away. I can tell my disorder is going away, too, because it's trying to take the form of another form of OCD: fear of hurting other people. But anyone who's had OCD and ocassionaly defeats a compulsion knows that another takes its place and with just a little willpower they can resist it. In conclusion, buy this book only if you want some inspiration or are doing research on OCD for a class or something. If not, and you just want to plain old get rid of it, just take my advice.
Rating:
Summary: A good book, but not the solution...
Review: Brain Lock is, I'm sure, written very well. However, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is not something that one can, in my opinion, treat alone, at least not for more severe cases. I myself suffered from OCD for over a year. Before I confided in my parents, I bought this book to see if I could help myself. Let me tell you, it was impossible. Although the book is very accurate in telling what needs to be done to overcome the disorder, it does not take the place of a doctor. I urge anyone suffering from this disorder to consult a physician. You are not alone, and there is help. After over a year of therapy, I can honestly say that I am almost completely, if not completely, free from my OCD.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book - Read It Over and Over and Over
Review: Don't think about it! Just do it!
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