When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty

by Jeff Bell

Book Overview

When in doubt, make belief . For author and news anchor Jeff Bell, these are words to live by. Literally. As someone who has spent much of his life battling severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), Bell has had to overcome crippling uncertainty few people can imagine. In this powerful follow-up to his critically acclaimed memoir, Rewind, Replay, Repeat , Bell expounds on the principles of applied belief that allowed him to make such a remarkable...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1577316703
• ISBN13: 9781577316701
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: New World Library
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

More than a solution for OCD

This book is written to give people with OCD an effective strategy for overcoming this "doubting disease", as Jeff Bell describes it. However, the principles and practices suggested here would benefit anyone suffering from uncertainty, especially in these times of financial and global instability. Specifically, anyone could benefit from learning the distinction between healthy Intellect-based doubt and unhealthy fear-based doubt unhealthy and exaggerated doubts and reactions and this distinction is explained here and anyone could benefit from the strategies for confronting fear and worry. The approach recommended in this book for overcoming the debilitating effects of OCD are based on Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or ERP Exposure/Response - Prevention specifically. The essential keys for making this happen are what Jeff calls the Ten Steps out of Doubt. Of course, the book goes into sufficient detail to explain how and why these steps work as well as how to apply them. 1. Choose to see the universe as friendly 2. Embrace the possibility in every moment 3. Affirm your universal potential 4. Put your commitments ahead of your comfort. 5. Keep sight of the big picture and the Greater Good 6. Claim and exercise your freedom to choose 7. Picture possibility and "direct" your attention 8. Act from abundance in ways that empower 9. Accept and let go of what you cannot control 10.Allow for bigger plans than your own to unfold This book is a fairly quick read and the methods are easy to understand and apply. As Jeff states, there is no magical cure for OCD but through hard work and time, it is possible to adjust thought patterns so that the bully (his metaphor for OCD) loses it power.

Excellent self-help approach for managing the anxiety, fears, and worries which stem from doubt

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book to review for the web site Metapsychology Online; a more complete version of my review can be found on that site. This book, subtitled An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty, is a follow-up to author Jeff Bell's fascinating memoir about his struggles with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Rewind, Replay, Repeat. In When in Doubt, Make Belief, Bell presents the specific strategies which he found to be most helpful in confronting the fears and uncertainties produced by his OCD, sometimes referred to as the "doubting disease." In the first part of the book, Bell provides an excellent feel for the experience of living with OCD. He distinguishes healthy vs. unhealthy doubt, reviews some of the hallmarks of obsessional thinking, and finally, discusses the most common compulsions, for which he utilizes the useful metaphor of trapdoors--he identifies the most frequent trapdoors as checking, reassurance-seeking, ruminating, protecting, fixing, and avoiding. In Part 2, the "Making Belief" section of the book, Bell presents ten specific steps for getting out of doubt, a model which he developed based on the "Structure of Belief" pyramid that he first shared in Rewind, Replay, Repeat. Bell focuses on the four levels of the pyramid--reverence, resolve, investment, and surrender--and he offers several principles associated with each tier.The concept of investment most directly addresses motivation, with Bell encouraging readers to exercise freedom to choose, including choosing to direct one's attention and choosing to act for the Greater Good. The Greater Good then becomes the central focus in the final part of the book. Bell argues that what is missing in traditional OCD treatment models is the motivational component; he maintains that professionals need to give patients a reason to confront their worst fears. Bell concludes the book with interviews of several famous figures, including Patty Duke. He also weaves both personal stories and highlights of his interviews with OCD experts and others throughout. Overall, this is an extremely hopeful and encouraging work, not only for OCD sufferers, but also for anyone who has been plagued by the anxieties, fears, and worries which stem from doubt.

Embracing Doubt To Fully Live a Life of Purpose

Uncertainty and the discomfort which accompanies it are inevitable in each of our lives. The central question then is not how we avoid uncertainty and discomfort but... how do we embrace it? Radio and television news veteran, Jeff Bell, has tackled this subject in "When in Doubt, Make Belief" which provides an inspired approach to living with uncertainty and doubt; developed over many years as he tried to free himself from a life of chronic uncertainty resulting from OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). OCD provided a laboratory for understanding the drivers of uncertainty and for developing strategies to limit counterproductive reactions to it. Bell distinguishes between healthy doubt and unhealthy doubt and provides a series of questions to help the reader discern which is which. Unhealthy doubts stem from emotional reasoning (a term he coined) which leads to confusion, trouble, and is one of the ten distorted thinking patterns that trigger anxiety as well as depression. Using his Belief Pyramid, Bell provides the ten steps out of doubt which leads to belief: 1. Choose to see the universe as friendly. 2. Embrace possibility in every moment. 3. Affirm your universal potential. a. Live with purpose, mindfulness 4. Put your commitments ahead of your comfort. 5. Keep the sight of the big picture and the Greater Good. 6. Claim and exercise your freedom to choose - choose between the stimuli we are confronted with and our responses to them. 7. Picture possibility and "direct" your attention. - how much attention are we giving certain thoughts and feelings? 8. Act From Abundance in ways that empower. 9. Accept what you cannot control and let go. - the therapy of trust and of faith. 10. Allow for bigger plans than your own to unfold. The path to belief and freedom includes embracing the concept of the Greater Good and the role each of us plays in an infinitely greater universal plan. "The Greater Good choice must inherently involve objectives bigger than ourselves and our doubts." The universe is available to each of us to the extent that we are willing to draw on it in ways that serve one's Greater Good. This enhances one's sense of purpose and compels each to be of service to others as they seek a Greater Good. Fully grasping and believing in the Greater Good provides a infinite source of strength that will trump uncertainty and doubt. Every moment of this life is rich with possibility. Squandering these moments by fixating on the past, future, doubt, and uncertainty is self-limiting and destructive. Bell's lessons provide a "reverential practice" trumping the traps that keep us from seeking meaning and purpose at every opportunity. "The purpose of life is a life of purpose."

When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty

The world that is within us, and outside of us, is uncertain. And we do not thrive in it. Everything, it seems, is in a state of nervous, fearful flux. For all intents and purposes, living in a frightful vacuum of uncertainty renders us--dead. As someone who has battled with, and recovered from, the very worst of obsessive compulsive disorder (or, the "doubting disease"), author Jeff Bell knows a thing or two about uncertainty. He has learned firsthand how debilitating it can be, and more importantly, what it takes to live effectively with it. In //When In Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty//, you will learn the many life lessons OCD and its treatment have taught him as he offers a pragmatic step-by-step approach to confronting the twin demons of fear and worry. While Jeff Bell draws extensively from experience, he also enlists the expertise of more than two dozen contributors, from bestselling personal growth authors Sylvia Boorstein and Dan Millman, to some of the nation's leading authorities on anxiety and motivation. He also illustrates the principles through interviews with five remarkable "believers" including former White House Chief of Staff (and current CIA Director) Leon Panetta and legendary actress/advocate Patty Duke. Through stories, interviews, and trademark humor, readers will learn how to: distinguish between intellect-based and fear-based doubts, identify and steer clear of six "trapdoors," get unstuck in ten steps, identify motivators against doubt, and make decisions with purpose, among others. "If you apply the principles of belief, doubt will loosen its grip on your life," writes Bell. "And if you find yourself questioning this, you are indeed holding the right book in your hands!" Reviewed by Dominique James

When in Doubt, Make Belief

We've all left the house then wondered if we locked the front door. Sometimes that concern is even enough to make us go back and check. For someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), that concern becomes anxiety that may not even be sated after checking. They may feel the need to check several times. When in Doubt, Make Belief is both an important reference and useful self help book. The author explains the OCD acts like a bully, creating six common behaviors or "trapdoors": checking, reassurance-seeking, ruminating, protecting, fixing, and avoiding. Then, the author honestly states that there is no magical cure for OCD. However, through hard work and time, it is possible to adjust thought patterns so that the bully loses power.