7 yr old diagnosed with OCD

amother

Brown

Tue, Jul 28 2015, 1:26 pm

My son has always been an anxious child and we have always been on top of it with therapist and professional help. This year things changed and he has been diagnosed with OCD. Please anyone with information or recommendations please post. I have been taking him to a top therapist paying out of pocket and working on the OCD but I feel like there is more I need to do, it's still a huge part of his life and he is having difficulty ...

amother

Brown

Tue, Jul 28 2015, 2:19 pm

He's a very anxious child but I started noticing more behaviors , like worried about poison and germs and not touching his food and becoming overly into that... And when I brought it up with the therapist he was seeing she felt OCD tendencies. We then talked about it with him and she had a check list and he told us so many things that I wanted to cry . I had no idea he was doing these things, but when she asked questions on the check list and he was so comfortable with her bec she's been working with him over a year, he told her things. Like he has to read words backwards or wave a certain way or go up and down stairs a certain way... He's very worried about doing an avera - and overall sometimes he has very weird actions and behaviors like where he says certain words ... He's such a good kid but it hurts to see how much he is struggling. He has thoughts that I don't even know about. But I see they take him over and he's never a relaxed 7 year old. It affects him socially too...

amother

Burgundy

Tue, Jul 28 2015, 5:22 pm

amother wrote:

Thank you for explaining. It helps.

amother

Cyan

Tue, Jul 28 2015, 8:00 pm

hugs to you. I know someone personally that has ocd. is grown man, with wife and kids. a wonderful man. what works on him and hes medication free. oh he still has his tendencies but to help with the poison and germs. this is what worked tremendously, he was explained how every persons body had healthy bacteria (little bugs) that cannot be taken away, bec they make sure that the person stays healthy. he had a very hard time stopping washing hands but it worked and put him mind at ease. try it it might help. if not now try again a short while later. is she helping him overcome with practical ideas. bec if not then she might not be enough. that is essential. just listening to his fears isnt enough. he needs ideas that work for him to control himself. bec if he doesnt learn it when hes young it will get harder. kudos to you for working on it now!. great mom! special mom! you are doing wha tneeds to be done. daven and hashem will help. focus on the beautiful parts of him too. this is a small part of him

amother

Cyan

Tue, Jul 28 2015, 8:03 pm

I have a small question what made you think he had any of these issues? is there something running in the family? they do say its genetic. dont blame yourself. just try to help him. with hashems. try to be accepting of him. try to show him you dont care about some dirt. he will relax somewhat.

amother

Brown

Wed, Jul 29 2015, 12:14 pm

Hi I'm the original imamother. I started therapy for him about a year in a half ago to help with his anxiety and worries. OCD was not a thought. He was a very anxious child and teachers and professionals all recommended therapy. We started with a counselor who by the end of last year said she sees how smart he is and she is just not getting to him we need to go further. We called relief and they help recommended therapists they are really helpful if anyone needs their number. Anyway , his anxiety was more manageable and he didn't need therapy after a few months at the center for anxiety. But months later I was noticing things like I said above and how he was having trouble.... So we went back and after a few sessions it was clear that he has a lot of OCD tendencies. I appreciate so much all your comments and chizuk it means so much. The therapist is helping him deal with each OCD at a time it's hard work for him, even the therapy sessions are hard for him to face it all. I wish there was more I can do, there has to be something else besides for therapy once a week.
No, there is no history of any OCD in my family. Anxiety - yes but not OCD, so we are very surprised , but it's not always hereditary.

tb1

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 7:56 am

I agree, I think it is important to consider medication.
I was a successful kid growing up, I am smart and talented...but I suffered very very much because of my obsessiveness...and hope that your child can start being calm and happy much earlier than me!
I suffered from OCD for years, maybe even starting around seven years old. I finally started getting professional help when I was pregnant with my first; I went to therapy and take medication.

amother

Lilac

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 12:50 pm

amother wrote:

OP, can you update us on the progress with regard to the OCD treatment. I have a family member who was recently diagnosed with OCD and it seems hopeless.

amother

Brown

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 1:45 pm

We went to a highly recommended psychologist and she had helped him tremendously learn how to deal with his OCD behaviors and how to overcome most of them. He is currently not needing the therapy and is doing so much better. Of course with changes or new situations we see he hasto deal with it more but overall he's much better since the last time I posted. Please don't ever give up, there's so many resources out there that can help

amother

Tan

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 2:31 pm

amother wrote:

Can you please give us her name, I desperately need one for my teenager.

amother

Lilac

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 2:58 pm

amother wrote:

Can you please give us her name, I desperately need one for my teenager.

I could certainly use the name as well. My daughter has terrible contamination issues and won't eat ANY food from our house, fridge or otherwise. She eats takeout all week and goes to friends every shabbos. She also insists on new bedding every few weeks. Its a complete nightmare. I live in bklyn.

amother

Brown

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 4:09 pm

If you live in New York I would say call the center for anxiety. Dr Regina galanti has been really great with kids. Just a heads up I don't think she takes any insurance, but if your child is suffering the best investment is getting them help. It's also like a shidduch, one therapist might work for one child but have trouble breaking through to the next. I spent almost a year at another therapist who finally told me you need to try another route I'm not getting through to him. I respect her so much for that, bec not all therapist will be that honest.

amother

Lilac

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 7:08 pm

amother wrote:

Thanks for the response. My dd has been on several medications without any results. We've also tried therapy and it didn't help. I think the problem with therapy is that ocd is completely illogical and irrational. My dd realizes that her bedding is not actually contaminated but there's something in her head that's telling her it cant be clean and she must purchase brand new bedding. If I ask her why she is willing to go to her friend for shabbos and sleep on bedding that might be old, she just says she knows it doesnt make sense but that's what her brain is telling her. With that in mind how does therapy help this? No amount of talking or reasoning has any effect as she knows its illogical. I've been to many sessions with dd and heard the therapist ask, what do you think will happen to you if you sleep on your bedding? Dd will respond I know my mind is playing tricks on me and nothing will happen, but it feels so horribly yucky when I'm laying down even though I know its not really dirty. It just seems like there's nothing to say or reason with.

amother

Taupe

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 7:28 pm

amother wrote:

There are two ways to treat OCD. One way is to challenge the thoughts, which it sounds like the therapist has been doing with limited success. The other way is through an Exposure and Response Prevention program, also known as ERP. Has the therapist been working on this behavioral approach? This is where she does the activities that cause her anxiety in small incremental steps to gain control over her compulsions. This can be effective when the other approach fails.

amother

Lilac

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 7:43 pm

amother wrote:

The therapist was trying to get dd to touch the bed and then sit on it. She was willing to do that but ultimately completely unwilling to lay down. Same thing with our refrigerator. Dd would put her hand in it and even open it and look inside, but was unwilling to eat or drink anything from inside. No amount of pleading, begging, bribing would get her to budge 1 inch.