Can't Just Stop: An Investigation of Compulsions

1st incident: A week ago, I went on a short trip in a lovely town not too far from Athens for three days. We ended up leaving 15 minutes later than planned, because I just HAD to make sure that the door and the windows were locked. And then, I HAD to go back and check whether the boiler and all appliances were switched off. But then, I thought ‘'did I lock properly?'' Needless to say, I was almost thrown in the car by the other member of the household...

2nd incident: In my class, there are three rows of desks. Each desk has a set of two chairs,one painted in pistachio green and a second in canary yellow. They're so beautiful, they make me happy just by looking at them. One evening, I noticed that three chairs were out of place. I just couldn't leave until the colour coordination was properly restored.

3rd incident: Possibly the weirdest of all. When we travelled to beautiful Moscow,I insisted that we had to return to the hotel from the same route each night, no matter the spot of the city where we had found ourselves in. If we hadn't, I was convinced that something would have happened to us.

If you made it through these crazy moments, first of all, congratulations! Secondly, you're probably thinking this is OCD to the core.I thought so too, I even declared so in a half-ironic, half-serious manner, but after reading this book, I realised how wrong I was.

Sharon Begley's book attempts to shed light in the disorder that becomes more and more notorious and relevant to our age. There are facts and personal confessions that shocked me. I'm not exaggerating. They shocked me and frightened me. It can start harmlessly. Let's check the mobile phone one more time, let's check the e-mails even though we checked ten minutes ago, let's try to pass the level of this addictive video game. And what about all the buttons and the clippings and the clothes we don't need anymore? And the problems mount in frightening progress and the impact on the patients and their close relationships becomes almost irreversible.

What really made me sad was the bottom line in many of the cases referred to in the book. Loneliness, disappointment and a deep feeling of failure. People clinging onto things that they regard as their anchor to a past,happier life or to a life they wanted to live,but fate had other decisions in store for them.

I've always considered my mother to be a hoarder. Let's keep this jar, let's keep this lamp, keep this, keep that...when my grandmother passed away, she simply had to throw away and donate things, it couldn't have been otherwise. And she did so, but I could see the pain in her eyes while she was carrying out the task,and I remember I thought that was such an unhealthy clinging to the past. Now I know I was cruel. You see, I've learnt not to cling onto things. The teaching profession requires us to have almost no basis at all. This year we're in this school , next year we may found ourselves miles and miles away. But I understand now that my mother has no disorder,nor is she a victim of the past, and I will never call her ‘'a hoarder'' again.

I appreciated the fact that the writer provides no personal opinions and answers, She states the facts and let us decide and learn. She informs without imposing any explanations on such a delicate subject,and thus, this book does worth your time.

And as for me,next time we travel anywhere, I am determined to change routes to the hotel each and every day.Well, perhaps...