The Man Who Couldn't Stop

The Sunday Times bestseller. ‘A fascinating study of the living nightmare that is obsessive compulsive disorder' - Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library Have you ever stood at the edge of a tall building and felt the terrifying urge to jump? Or caught yourself imagining swerving into oncoming traffic for no reason at all? You’re not broken — and you’re not alone. In The Man Who Couldn't Stop , writer and journalist David Adam takes us on a gripping journey into the darkest corners of the mind. Blending science, history and raw personal experience, this extraordinary book explores the hidden thoughts we all have but rarely admit. With unflinching honesty and unfaltering humour, Adam reveals what it’s like to live with OCD — a condition he has battled for over two decades. From a schoolgirl driven to eat a wall of her house, piece by piece, to two brothers who are buried alive by the things they’ve hoarded, he asks: when does a fleeting thought become a trap we can’t escape from? ‘I urge anyone to buy it. It will make you think again’ - Sunday Times ‘Just buy it now’ - Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived ‘Superb’ - The Times ‘Brave, funny and illuminating’ - Guardian

The Sunday Times bestseller. ‘A fascinating study of the living nightmare that is obsessive compulsive disorder' - Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library Have you ever stood at the edge of a tall building and felt the terrifying urge to jump? Or caught yourself imagining swerving into oncoming traffic for no reason at all? You’re not broken — and you’re not alone. In The Man Who Couldn't Stop , writer and journalist David Adam takes us on a gripping journey into the darkest corners of the mind. Blending science, history and raw personal experience, this extraordinary book explores the hidden thoughts we all have but rarely admit. With unflinching honesty and unfaltering humour, Adam reveals what it’s like to live with OCD — a condition he has battled for over two decades. From a schoolgirl driven to eat a wall of her house, piece by piece, to two brothers who are buried alive by the things they’ve hoarded, he asks: when does a fleeting thought become a trap we can’t escape from? ‘I urge anyone to buy it. It will make you think again’ - Sunday Times ‘Just buy it now’ - Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived ‘Superb’ - The Times ‘Brave, funny and illuminating’ - Guardian

Winner of the Medical Journalists' Association's Tony Thistlethwaite Award A Finalist for the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books Recipient of the International OCD Foundation's Illumination Award What might lead a schoolgirl to eat a wall of her house, piece by piece, or a man to die beneath an avalanche of household junk that he and his brother have compulsively hoarded? At what point does a harmless idea, a snowflake in a clear summer sky, become a blinding blizzard of unwanted thoughts? David Adam--an editor at Nature and an accomplished science writer--has suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder for twenty years, and The Man Who Couldn't Stop is his unflinchingly honest attempt to understand the condition and his experiences. In this riveting and intimate blend of science, history, and memoir, Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind and explains how they drive millions of us toward obsession and compulsion. Told with fierce clarity, humor, and urgent lyricism, The Man Who Couldn't Stop is a haunting story of a personal nightmare that shines a light into the darkest corners of our minds.

Winner of the Medical Journalists' Association's Tony Thistlethwaite Award A Finalist for the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books Recipient of the International OCD Foundation's Illumination Award What might lead a schoolgirl to eat a wall of her house, piece by piece, or a man to die beneath an avalanche of household junk that he and his brother have compulsively hoarded? At what point does a harmless idea, a snowflake in a clear summer sky, become a blinding blizzard of unwanted thoughts? David Adam--an editor at Nature and an accomplished science writer--has suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder for twenty years, and The Man Who Couldn't Stop is his unflinchingly honest attempt to understand the condition and his experiences. In this riveting and intimate blend of science, history, and memoir, Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind and explains how they drive millions of us toward obsession and compulsion. Told with fierce clarity, humor, and urgent lyricism, The Man Who Couldn't Stop is a haunting story of a personal nightmare that shines a light into the darkest corners of our minds.