Nagging doubt: It's a part of everyday life, and so too is the inclination to act on it. Who hasn't doubled back to check on a door or appliance? But what if one check wasn't enough? Nor two or three? And what if that doubt grew so intense that physical senses became all but useless? Such was the case for Jeff Bell, a husband, father, and highly successful radio news anchor—and one of the millions of Americans living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Rewind, Replay, Repeat (Hazelden; 350 pps.) recounts the depths to which this neurological "doubting disease" reduced Bell—to hiding from people and human contact, driving his car in looping circles, scouring his hands in scalding water, and endlessly rewinding, replaying, and repeating in his head even the most mundane daily experiences.
Readers will learn what OCD feels like from the inside, and how healing is possible through therapy, determination, and the support of loved ones.
FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:
"Bell's memoir is a revealing look at life with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that goes to often hysterical lengths to convey the dynamics of OCD by reviewing life consumed by the disorder and attempts to overcome it. Radio news anchor and first-time author Bell chronicles the constant worrying, rechecking and unstoppable thought-loops that spin him like a whirligig through his day, recounting "virtual tapes" from his life. Cleverly labeling different sections of his narrative "play," "fast forward" and "pause," using the last of which to stop the action and address readers directly, Bell is easy to like, and he wisely keeps things from getting too technical: "I myself don't even pretend to understand those brain complexities ... My expertise is in doubt." As such, he provides an experiential report of everything from a (very) minor boat accident and the (slightly) major on-air radio flub that followed, to the efficacy of the "Quirk Defense," to his last-ditch, year-long project to overcome his symptoms. Bell's story provides plenty of lessons, perspective and hope for those living with OCD-either their own or someone else's-in a funny, highly entertaining narrative."
Copyright © 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (PW Annex review - 2007-03-05)
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