Needing to Know for Sure: A CBT-Based Guide to Overcoming Compulsive Checking and Reassurance Seeking

I’ve read many books on anxiety, ocd, and worry. I did so because I’ve suffered from anxiety for years. This book, and their other book, “Overcoming Intrusive Thoughts “ are two of the best. I’m doing the DEAF and trying exposure. I feel that it’s helping. As they say, the need for certainty is what causes the anxiety.

8 months ago, I had my first panic attack, which within a couple of weeks had developed into a whole range of different anxiety disorders.. depersonalisation, generalized anxiety disorder, derealisation, OCD.. depression, of course still having panic attacks ontop of it. Today I have little anxiety at all. I think what I did right was to face my fears.. I was afraid of going insane above all else, actually dying was way bellow it on the ladder of my many fears at the time. There was 1 thing that really stood out for me in my.. toolbox of life, and that was and still is my ability to problemsolve.. I had a problem, anxiety, and I would spend all my energy on solving it.What I feared the most changed with time after I sort of did exposure therapy on myself. My first dominant fear was that of developing a Seizure.. So while it paralyzed me at first, eventually I reached the point where I said "F it, I wanna know what this thing ruining my life really is" so I researched it, I read about, I talked to people who had it, until Seizure had become something I thought "ok.. if it happens, it's not so bad, I could live with that and actually many people do.I’ve tried multiple therapies, medications, meditations, supplements, diets, hypnosis and whatnot. I mean you name it and I probably have tried it. Although all these things helped me a lot in my recovery process, still I was feeling stuck. Coz with everything new technique, I was reassuring myself that this is gonna work and it never did!Lastly, I’ve started doing my own work. I ordered almost every good book I could find on Anxiety, Fear, Depression and OCD. I started reading intensively from morning to evening and did most of the exercises they tell you to do. Again, everything worked for a short period of time but nothing sticked. Or better say, I didn’t stick to one thing.Of all the books I’ve read so far, most of them are based on Therapies like CBT and ACT. I’d say this book stands out of every other book. A few factors I realized make this my top list are:1. It’s the most recent book, the authors have combined 80 years of experience in treating people. So, you’d find most recent examples of people and their thoughts(which brings you kind of relief like you’re not alone)2. The treatment method, the therapy they’ve explained is the most advance, easier(not lengthy) and to the point. Moreover, it focuses on the root cause of the issue. You’d clearly understand the workings of your mind once you go through the book. I can clearly see what I was doing wrong and Why I was stuck and most importantly how to get out of stuck state. I’m seeing far more improvement in me now than I used to before after my first read though I wanna read it again.Even though, Im not entirely through it yet. I still have some bad days, that due to my mind still having the anxious tendency tends to be worse than a regular bad day for a person usually is. I'm grateful for my fears. I was already in a pretty dark place way way before I had my first panic attack but that panic attack who invited more darkness into my life, also got me looking for sources of light to my darkness and I've found so much. Much more then I ever had to start with.. like a tough teacher who teaches you the value of positivity in your character and world by filling them with the opposite.Fear is an illusion of your mind, only fears that should be taken seriously.. seriously as in letting your fear take control of you, is that of the immediate physical nature. Such as a car headed straight for you or neighbors dog running for your grill with food on it, lolIn the end, if you’re like me and you’ve tried all other different methods, read books but couldn’t see much progress then you should give this book a shot. I’m positive this book can and will bring a change into your life, you just have to read it probably many times and trust the process. I’m not a therapist but I promise you it’d be worth every penny of yours

I am going on 28 years old, I've had OCD since I was six. But recently I have gone through a lot of trauma and change and my OCD got worse than ever. Health anxiety, false memory anxiety, double checking, etc, etc. And this book has really helped me. It made me realize the problem is I want 100% certainty which is impossible. I highly recommend this book. I don't know if any book could've helped me as much as this book.

Wow. It’s like this book was meant for me. This book helped me feel normal and understood. If you struggle with anxiety, intrusive thoughts or uncertainty you HAVE to read this book. AMAZING!! 1000000/10 recommend

This book was so helpful for what I’m going through. It really showed me what my ocd was doing and I am hoping these tools help me to fight it

I am still making my way through this book but highly recommend. Breaks things down into easy to digest concepts and makes me understand what someone with OCD copes with. While more than likely someone with OCD would still need proper therapy, it's a good starter book to begin to see how to approach managing this condition.

This book is excellent. As someone who has struggled with anxiety for my whole life and constantly turned to reassurance for a guarantee my worries won’t come true… I feel like this book was written for me. I’m learning a different perspective to dealing with my thoughts & it’s been very therapeutic.

I did not expect any single book to be so revolutionary in improving my mental health and anxiety, but this book truly was. I was in tears at times as I read it because it elucidates exactly what goes on in my head, in a way that I could never have explained it. That validation alone was helpful, but beyond that it explains how these anxious thought cycles function and how to break them. If you are considering buying this book, I can't recommend it enough!

I read this book because I have trouble with uncertainty and it's been very helpful to change the way I think about uncertainty. it explains how to stop looking for reassurance and getting out of the reassurance trap. easy to read and makes perfect sense.

I think it has some valuable points for people, I think it depends on what you're dealing with but I understand what the message is overall. I have had ocd for years and I overcame many rituals by myself before this book and one thing that helped me was saying reassuring things to myself like, it's ok you can buy the thing and get rid of it later and I would slowly get used to something and could let it go or I can go to the party for half an hour and leave and this can be good because it creates exposure and gradually you begin to override certain compulsions but this book has some Contradictions and I believe recovery is not a one size fits all, so take what helps from this book and throw away the rest is my advice.

Tried and true method. Solid writers. Awesome book.Well done Dr Seif and Dr Winston. You are a great team and your writing I wish should be taught in Med Schools all over North America so that more anxious people find a guiding light, and some peace.

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I bought this book after reading the equally wonderful ‘Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts’ by the same authors - which I would also highly recommend. This book has been wonderful for me as I have struggled badly with getting stuck in a derealisation and OCD loop where I was very frightened of the feeling so kept ‘checking’ to see if it had gone away and of course when you go looking for something you will always find it! This would make me more and more anxious. This book is really good because it teaches you about the way you create this loop for yourself and how it is the thinking process that is the issue rather that what you are actually worried about :) it has helped me very much so if you struggle with looped anxious thoughts, whatever they are, I think this book is a great help!