The Man Who Couldn’t Stop

The Sunday Times bestseller.

‘A fascinating study of the living nightmare that is obsessive compulsive disorder’ – Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library

Have you ever stood at the edge of a tall building and felt the terrifying urge to jump? Or caught yourself imagining swerving into oncoming traffic for no reason at all? You’re not broken — and you’re not alone.

In The Man Who Couldn’t Stop, writer and journalist David Adam takes us on a gripping journey into the darkest corners of the mind. Blending science, history and raw personal experience, this extraordinary book explores the hidden thoughts we all have but rarely admit.

With unflinching honesty and unfaltering humour, Adam reveals what it’s like to live with OCD — a condition he has battled for over two decades. From a schoolgirl driven to eat a wall of her house, piece by piece, to two brothers who are buried alive by the things they’ve hoarded, he asks: when does a fleeting thought become a trap we can’t escape from?

‘I urge anyone to buy it. It will make you think again’ – Sunday Times
‘Just buy it now’ – Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived
‘Superb’ – The Times
‘Brave, funny and illuminating’ – Guardian