Book Being Reviewed:
Traig, J. (2004). Devil in the details: Scenes from an obsessive girlhood. New York, NY: Time Warner.

Reviewer:
Danielle Richards

Genre:
Non-Fiction Adult

Subject Headings:
Anxiety disorders, Body image, Eating disorders, Female lifespan development, Family dynamics, Middle school, Multicultural/cross-cultural issues, Self-injurious behavior

Review:
The Devil in the Details is an autobiographical book written by Jennifer Traig. It is her story of being teenager growing up in the 1970s. Alongside of the normal developmental teenage crises Traig experienced, she writes about her struggle with anorexia-nervosa, trichotillomania, hypochondria and a variety of forms of obsessive compulsive disorder. In addition to washing, checking, doubting, counting and arranging, Traig suffered from a rare form of OCD called scrupulosity, which she refers to as a hyper-religious form of obsessive compulsive disorder. Her story offers an authentic look into the experiencing of disabling mental illnesses.

The book can be utilized with counselors-in-training to illustrate a multitude of issues regarding mental health. The Devil in the Details would be appropriate for counselor education classes discussing issues related to the assessment and diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder, anorexia-nervosa, trichotillomania, hypochondria, the co-morbidity of mental illnesses, adolescent psychopathology and the impact of mental illnesses on family members. In addition, this book offers a rare multi-cultural perspective on scrupulosity. Much of the professional writing about this form of OCD, as well as of the existence support groups for those who suffer from it, have focused on scrupulosity as it pertains to Christians. There has only been recent attention paid to scrupulosity in the Jewish community. I highly recommend this book for counselors and counselors-in-training who are interested in psychopathology and how it affects teenagers and their families.

Originally posted on 3/9/2010 at csi-net.org