Another OCD Memoir Review

Well, I've read another OCD memoir. I swear it's not a compulsion, I just like them! The latest book was called Washing My Life Away, by a British woman, Ruth Deane. As you might have guessed, she struggled with contamination OCD, as well as checking. She washed her hands 80-100 times a day, and became so scared that she'd be made sick by her food that she basically didn't eat.

She eventually seeks treatment which is mostly unsuccessful, until she checks herself into a psychiatric hospital. While the hospital staff don't seem to know much about OCD, she has a great therapist who does (making it not completely clear if she needed the hospital). In any case, she begins to take Prozac, which she finds makes it possible for her to complete exposure therapy. The timeline of her treatment in the book is not completely clear, but it was written in 2005.

The author is now mostly free of her OCD and works as a counselor. This book was very easy to read at 100 pages, and quite relatable and inspirational. It has a lot less of the "I'm okay now, except when I'm not" that most OCD memoirs have. As always, I would have liked more detail about her therapeutic process, but I still found it an interesting read.