Skip to content

The Man Who Couldn’t Stop by David Adam

The Man Who Couldn't Stop

About the book

Published by Picador

In this captivating fusion of science, history and personal memoir, writer David Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind, and how they drive millions of us towards obsessions and compulsions. David has suffered from OCD for twenty years, and this book is his unflinchingly honest attempt to understand the condition and his experiences. Drawing on the latest research on the brain, as well as historical accounts of patients, this is a book that will challenge the way you think about mental illness.

Read the first chapter (PDF)

About the author

Dr David Adam is a writer and editor at Nature, the world’s top scientific journal. Before that he was a specialist correspondent on the Guardian for seven years, writing on science, medicine and the environment. During this time he was named feature writer of the year by the Association of British Science Writers, and reported from Antarctica, the Arctic, China and the depths of the Amazon jungle.

The judges said:

An amazingly gripping and informative look inside someone’s head, told with a depth of knowledge and genius turn of phrase that only an expert and gifted writer could wield.

Was this page useful?
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback. Please help us improve this page by taking our short survey.