Obsessively Yours

Exploring the social and cultural roots of personality and its disorders.

Lennard J. Davis is professor of disability studies, medical education, and English literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the author of Obsession: A History. See full bio

Obsessively Yours

January 7, 2010

Five Reasons not to take SSRIs

Five reasons not to take your SSRIs. Read More

November 27, 2009

Brain Surgery for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Cautionary Note

Psychiatric surgeons are rushing back to psychosurgery for obsessive-compulsive disorders. Not so fast!! Read More

August 5, 2009

Ghostwritten Medical Articles Cast Doubt on Reliability of Psychiatric Drugs

Don't be so sure that the drug you are taking really does what it is supposed to do. Con jobs happen even with scientific studies and peer-reviewed articles. Read More

May 3, 2009

OCD and Swine Flu--disorder or survival technique?

Is Everyone Developing OCD in the Swine Flu Panic? Read More

January 29, 2009

Obsession: A History

I've been generally happy with the reviews of my new book Obsession: A History but a recent one requires a response. Read More

December 18, 2008

The New York Times on the DSM V

The New York Times today carried a story about the machinations and politics behind the DSM V, the diagnostic and statistical manual used by therapists and medical doctors to assign diagnoses to patients seeking treatment. Read More

December 9, 2008

Axl Rose: Obsessive Monomaniac Perfectionist

The 15-year run of suspense is over. Read More

November 20, 2008

Obama erotomaniacs become stalkers?

During this election, frequently sighted at Obama rallies were women falling into a faint. These occurrences became so common that Obama would throw a bottle of water to the woman or routinely ask for medical care. Women weren't just fainting from the heat or dehydration-they were fainting with love Read More

November 4, 2008

Sex Addiction? An Obsession? A Disease?

Actor David Duchovny, who plays a sex-addicted writer in the TV series Californication, had recently checked himself into and now out of Meadows Rehab in Arizona for being, well, sex addicted in real life. Read More

Books by Lennard J. Davis

Obsession: A History

Go Ask Your Father: One Man's Obsession with Finding His Origins Through DNA Testing

Personality Basics

Questions of personality have vexed mankind from the dawn of personhood: can people change? How do others perceive me? What is the difference between normal and pathological behavior? One's personality is so pervasive and all-important that it presents a clinical paradox of sorts: it is hard to assess our own personality, impossible to overlook that of others.

Go to the Personality Basics page for more on Personality including:

Current Issue

The Expectations Trap

Why we're conditioned to blame our partners for our unhappiness.

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Books by Lennard J. Davis

Personality Basics

Current Issue