Living With Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

By Marie Gius

Living With Severe OCD is from one who suffers with this disorder every moment of her life. Written to enlighten others, the medical community as well as the general public, Marie Gius' account puts a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1887542418
• ISBN13: 9781887542418
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Book Pub Network
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A personal struggle shared.

Marie Gius and her husband Doug display great courage in sharing with the public their personal battle with Marie's OCD. I had heard of this mental disorder before reading the book, and have had experiences with people suffering from this condition. However, I had no idea of the scope and complexity of this problem or how it controls a person's daily activities and affects others around them. This book takes the reader through Marie's life from early childhood, when she first began experiencing symptoms, through her early efforts to obtain professional help and her struggles to maintain a relationship and career. This book is well written, very readable, and offers readers a rare insight into the mind of someone struggling with this condition.

"Valuable Testament and Treatise on OCD"

Sherry L. Schreck Review of "Living with Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" What a testament to human courage and stamina is Living With Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by retired educator, Marie Gius. This riveting autobiographical narrative is a forthright and ambitious feat on her part. I remember when my husband and I traveled through France on a Eurorail pass in 1970, and we encountered a woman from Belgium who had survived the horrors of World War II. She animatedly told us, "Never forget: Life is a struggle!" Yes, it is a struggle, but most of us do not encounter terrifying obstacles for every waking hour of our existence. Marie Gius reveals an in-depth perspective of the seriousness of OCD, and we the readers are allowed to visit her inner world of turmoil and tremendous suffering. One can only admire her fortitude and intelligence in taking steps, as early as her entrance into college, to educate herself and to seek professional help. To write this treatise on OCD and to inform the public of multiple facets of this illness is a major contribution to other sufferers and to the general public. What is most obvious is her determination to contribute to society despite incredible personal obstacles. Educators know the huge mental and physical energy expended to teach successfully on a daily basis, particularly middle school and junior high school students. That Marie could juggle the demands of an arduous profession and the complications of OCD is amazing. In addition, she took classes for nearly every summer of her career to improve her teaching skills and advance on the salary schedule, enrolling in a variety of highly-reputable universities. Admirable! In Living With Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I am one of her friends who managed to steer Marie toward psychological help in her first years of teaching by confiding in our school principal my concerns about her well-being. I knew she admired our school principal, Harry, and that she would listen to his advice. Which she did. She began to see a Wenatchee psychiatrist. We both loved Marie and wanted to help. I would do the same thing again. The scenarios of her experiences with psychologists and psychiatrists at various hospitals provide details, facts, and reactions that inspire faith in mental health professionals who are striving to provide sanative measures for sufferers of this debilitating disorder. Marie's own honest accounts and willingness to provide intelligent feedback to her doctors must have been invaluable in ameliorating her condition. Living with Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder also offers some beneficial insight into the author's backdrop of complex, yet loving, family relationships and the early development of her OCD. A recurring theme is Marie's inability, at times, to let go of blame and move forward into a more healthful state. Eventually, at the end of the book she describes her relationship with her caring

A "must read" on OCD

This book is an insightful look into how OCD affects someone on many levels. The book reads as if Ms. Gius is talking to me, personally. It is a "must read" for anyone that is dealing with someone suffering from OCD or anyone that will clinically deal with OCD patients.

A portrait of courage and perseverance

I am in awe of the author, Marie Gius. That's because I know her-- but I don't really know her at all. Marie taught junior high school English in the district where I taught high school English for twenty years. During that time, we all saw her as a very bright, hard-working, dedicated, relentlessly cheerful person. She seemed a bit odd to me, but that was because she seemed to be "on" all of the time, and most teachers aren't. However, most of us really didn't know her at all, simply because we didn't know that she was suffering from severe obsessive compulsive disorder, a condition that had afflicted her from early adolescence and that eventually drove her from her career and right to the brink of suicide. I can't imagine the sheer energy it took for her to hide her illness from us all. This book is her account of the way OCD has very nearly destroyed her. It's a very personal account, with just enough technical information to allow a non-expert to understand the affliction. It is a raw, honest account of what it feels like to spend nearly every waking moment for over forty years having a mental illness grinding relentlessly at one's ability to live a "normal" life. There is no happy ending here; to this day, she continues to suffer, and she probably will for the rest of her life. At one point, she asks, "What do you think? Get inside my mind. Have a glimpse of my hell on earth... Then you decide: normal or crazy?" Well, in my view, neither. That is, if one defines "normal" as meaning "like most other people," then Marie isn't "normal." However, she most certainly isn't crazy, either. To me, she is an exemplar of personal courage, and this book is an indelible portrait of the strength of her spirit. After reading it, I will never think of OCD-- or of Marie Gius-- the same way again.

Funny, endearing, and REAL

A wonderful read, especially if you want to understand more about OCD. The stories are funny, heartbreaking and very real.