Bibliography - OCPD Books
Mallinger, Allan E. & DeWyze, Jeannette (1992). Too Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control. New York: Clarkson Potter. 208 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Too-Perfect-When-Being-Control/dp/0449908003
Allan Mallinger is a psychiatrist in private practice. His book is about the obsessive personality and gives Freud, Salzman, and Shapiro (among others) their due in the acknowledgements. In the first half of the book he gives a good description of the characteristics and manifestations of perfectionism/OCPD, then in the second half concentrates more on how to better deal with it. In chapter 5 he introduces the theory that obsessives are "demand-sensitive" and then "demand-resistant".
Shapiro, David (1981). Autonomy and Rigid Character. Basic Books. 179 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Autonomy-Rigid-Character-David-Shapiro/dp/0465005683
David Shapiro is a Professor of Psychology. Although not about OCPD per se this is a deeply insightful book and there is enough in it on rigid character and OCP to include it here, particularly due to the content of the first 4 chapters:
Chapter 1 The Problem of Individual Autonomy pp. 7-31
Chapter 2 The Development of Autonomy pp. 32-68
Chapter 3 Rigid Character pp. 69-77
Chapter 4 Obsessive-Compulsive Rigidity pp. 78-100
He makes the case that the rigidity in direction and the lack of development of a healthy autonomy is central to the obsessive-compulsive personality. Chapters 3 and 4 (pp. 69-100) are brilliant and the best description of OCPD to be found anywhere.
Salzman, Leon (1968). The Obsessive Personality. New York: Science House. 282 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Treatment-Obsessive-Personality-Leon-Salzman/dp/0876688814
Leon Salzman is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and past president of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis. His landmark book (which was later revised and published as Treatment of the Obsessive Personality, 1980, New York: Jason Aronson, 528 pages, then later still as Treatment of Obsessive and Compulsive Behaviors, 1995, New York: Jason Aronson, 274 pages) is divided into 3 parts. In part 1 "Characteristics of the Obsessive Personality" he goes deeply into the psychodynamics of OCPD. Part 2 "The Obsessive State and Other Syndromes" brings up other conditions such as depression, phobias, and addictive states. Part 3 "Treatment" brings us back to the main subject.
Three books and a video on John List
The Benford and Sharkey books are biographies, the List book is, of course, an autobiography, all about John List who at age 46 killed his mother, wife, and three children because he could no longer support them and didn't want them to suffer poverty. These books are replete with anecdotes showing John List as a classic case of OCPD. Every OCPD man should read these books carefully because these are perhaps the only contemporary biographies in print of someone with OCPD. They comprise essentially a wonderful though very sad case study of OCPD. Because he was unable to adapt to failure, his family had to die.
Benford, Timothy B. & Johnson, James P. (1991). Righteous Carnage: The List Murders. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 310 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Carnage-Timothy-B-Benford/dp/0595007201
Sharkey, Joe (1990). Death Sentence: The Inside Story of the John List Murders. New York: Penguin Group. 305 pages.
List, John with Goodrich, Austin (2006). Collateral Damage: The John List Story. New York: iUniverse, Inc. 115 pages.
American Justice (2003). To Save Their Souls. A&E Television Networks. 50 minutes, VHS.
Cammer, Leonard, M.D. (1976). Freedom from Compulsion: How to liberate yourself from uptight, obsessive patterns of living that rob you of peace of mind. New York: Simon & Schuster. 271 pages.
The book is mostly about those with OCPD who he calls "O-C persons" or the "O-C who adapts". There's a shorter section on those with OCD or "obsessional neurosis" who he calls "the uptight who is maladaptive". Overall it is a good survey of the traits of someone with OCPD. The last section is "Part Four: Changing Yourself".
Stein, Dan J. & Stone, Michael H. (Eds.) (1997). Essential Papers on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. New York: New York University Press. 413 pages.
This is a collection of 20 essential papers on OCD. Although ostensibly about OCD there is enough relevant to OCPD to include it here, in particular:
1. The Defense Neuro-Psychoses by Sigmund Freud pp. 33-44
2. Theoretical (from "Notes upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis") by Sigmund Freud pp. 45-64
3. Hate and Anal Erotism in the Obsessional Neurosis by Ernest Jones pp. 65-72
4. Contributions to the Theory of the Anal Character by Karl Abraham pp. 73-90
5. Inhibitions, Symptoms, and Anxiety by Sigmund Freud pp. 91-99
6. Obsessional Neurosis: A Summary of Psycho-Analytic Views as Presented
at the Congress by Anna Freud pp. 100-112
8. Therapy of the Obsessive Personality by Leonard Salzman (excerpted from his book) pp. 124-162
9. The "Obsessional": On the Psychological Classification of Obsessional Character Traits and Symptoms by Joseph Sandler and Anandi Hazari pp. 163-175
Nagera, Humberto (1976). Obsessional Neuroses. New York: Jason Aronson. 227 pages.
Humberto Nagera is a psychoanalyst who dedicated the book to Anna Freud on her 80th birthday who herself wrote the foreword. Over half the book is a review of Freud's and other analysts' formulations. Then he discusses obsessional neuroses and obsessional character though the book is somewhat more about OCD (neurosis) than OCPD (character).
