Okay, so I am out on a walk with my beautiful daughter and I just thought I'd give you guys
a review of a book I recently read called Turtles All the Way Down and I thought it had a lot to say
about someone with OCD it had a really interesting perspective on what
the experience is like for someone with OCD so here it goes. In this book review I'm going to talk about whether I'd
recommend this book for a client who was struggling with anxiety or OCD and what I learned from the book and why I was inspired by this book, kind of.
This video is sponsored by Better Help, where you can get professional, affordable online counseling
for around $65 dollars a week so check out the link in the description for 10% off your first
month. So I recently read the book Turtles All the Way Down by John Green and I really liked it, it's
the story of a girl named Aza who has OCD and her friend Daisy and their adventures trying to solve
the disappearance of a billionaire developer and claim the reward, but really this book is
about the process of one teen trying to figure herself out and work through her relationships
with her friend and her mother and boys and deal with life all while struggling with mental illness.
So during the course of the story the author describes Aza's struggle with what she calls
"invasive thoughts", thoughts about bacteria and contamination that once they get started
they spiral into ever-tightening cycles of fear and catastrophizing and compulsive behaviors
like hand washing and changing band-aids. I mean in one scene Aza and this boy are getting together
and they start to kiss and she gets so anxious about germs and his germs getting into her mouth
that she, even though she really likes him and likes what's going on, she has to tell him to stop.
So you can see how for a teenager, that would be pretty distressing if you know you're making
out with the boy that you love and can't continue because of OCD and you know I
really appreciated the nuanced and personal and what seemed to me like a very realistic
and accurate portrayal of the internal workings of someone with OCD and as soon as I finished
the book I looked up the author to find out how he was able to get such a perspective like I wondered
did his wife or a family member have OCD and it turns out that John Green has OCD, it's something
he's struggled with since he was a little kid and so I read a couple things about him
and I even read one interview with him where the interviewer kept asking him about it and obviously
she hadn't read the book where he describes Aza opening a thought spiral that she can't escape
and when the interviewer asks him directly like "Describe what kind of thoughts make you go there..."
John Green basically said you know, I'd rather not it makes me kind of squirmy and
the interviewer awkwardly said let's take a break and this made me chuckle because the interviewer
thought she was going for the good meaty details but in reality she was being really insensitive
toward someone who has difficulty with intrusive thoughts or OCD. A few other things I appreciated
about this book; the psychiatrist is equal parts irritating and helpful
and this seems like a pretty accurate depiction of therapists in general, I mean I can say that
right because I am a therapist and I don't try to be irritating but I can imagine what
it's like for someone with extreme anxiety to go into a therapist's office and be told 'you are not
your thoughts, try a breathing exercise' when it legitimately feels like your life is in danger.
I honestly appreciated the candid and cynical approach that Aza had about therapy because it
seemed like a pretty accurate depiction of how a teenager approaches it. I did recommend this
book to one of my clients with OCD and I would recommend it to others with a little hesitation.
The strengths of this book is that it feels really real and seems to accurately express
the struggle with mental illness in a way that could connect with teenagers and others who are
struggling with OCD but the book is not an everything works out type ending it's more of
a there's still difficulties but it's going to be okay type ending and I think that for some people
that could be depressing but for most I would hope that they find this book lends a validating
voice to their struggle and even more than the vulnerable, hopeful approach of the book my number
one takeaway is what I learned about John Green. Knowing that John Green has OCD and he's been
very successful, he's written five bestsellers, he's got 12 million subscribers on his YouTube channels,
you've probably heard of his crash course and vlog brothers channels, his success is something
that should inspire everyone to know that a mental illness doesn't stop you from having a successful,
impactful and inspiring life. So thank you for watching this video I hope it was helpful
if you liked this content and would like to see more of it please consider subscribing
and take care. Just missed sunset but it's a pretty night walk. It was 100 degrees earlier today so I'm
taking advantage of the cool night air to get out with my daughter. What do you think Grace?
Oh really?