Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety
One in a hundred children suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Usually the disorder manifests itself by age ten. Over eight in ten adults with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder were suffering obvious symptoms by age eighteen.
Four ways OCD manifests itself:
- Over-thinking – Most of us have at one time or another have spent a good portion of our time overthinking some word, sentence or problem. So we just drop the thought and move on to something more productive. Not easy if you suffer from OCD. Many people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder spend their time and energy in non-productive chains of thought.
- Over-preparing – It is, of course, normal to go through your list of checks before you leave the house for a trip, make sure the doors are secure, no windows are left open, the dog’s got plenty of water, the stove’s not on. When you find yourself going through the lists time and time again, unreasonably trying to reassure yourself that nothing was missed, that is when it starts to affect your life adversely.
- Over-imagining – Most people recognize the importance of avoiding contagions. The compulsory behavior of People with OCD takes this recognition to a higher level, putting cleanliness and fear of contagions ahead of other factors of health that also needs to be considered. A person with OCD often sees the whole world full of germs, viruses, and potential contaminators. With this presupposition, it’s not hard to see how a person could go from irrational fear to irrational action.
- Over-collecting – Kid’s collect things, right? If it gets to the point that the kid simply can’t let go of an object to the point they hoard it, and that object multiplies into more and more objects, each more and more a vital part of the kid’s life, that’s when you can see the problem taking root. OCD patients who hoard, young or old, hold onto objects as if they were extensions of themselves, their own fears, hopes, realizations, their past, things they must hold onto to feel they are whole, holding onto parts of themselves.
It cannot be overstated: every child and adult who suffers from OCD deserves and needs treatment. There are too many complications that come along with this disorder, too many dangers, physically, emotionally, mentally and socially to be ignored.
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) – BDD is an extension of OCD. Most people have been dissatisfied with their body at one time or another, but people suffering from BDD see a distorted view of themselves when they look in the mirror. Since that image is usually an image that frighten or sickens them, it drives them into actions that are potentially devastating, harmful and sickens them worse.
- Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder – OCPD is similar to OCD, but the compulsive behavior is less frequent. The obsessions remain more internalized than in the compulsive types of OCD.
- Pure O – This form of OCD is even more internalized. You don’t see the odd behavior as much, the compulsive scrubbing, cleaning, washing, or the constant counting, checking, rechecking and many of the other exterior symptoms of OCD. The disorder is still there though, working at the mind in what perhaps might be a more frightening way since it remains and festers inside the mind and can be undiagnosed, untreated, but very real and dangerous to a person’s health, life, and well-being.
Is there any hope?
Yes, that’s what we’re here for. One of the positives of treating children with OCD is the chance to intervene at the early stages of the disorder. It is here, at the beginning of this threatening process, that the most astonishing progress can be made in returning the patient to a better state of health. Catching OCD in the early stages means the later stages can be navigated through more easily also. We are continually learning new ways to fight OCD, and we are willing and able to help you.
Talk to us. Let us help you manage the overwhelming stress that OCD brings with it. It is necessary to know the full spectrum of harmfulness.
But the most important step you can take in dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is to get you child in immediately for an evaluation. It is only when you start to recognize the problem that you can join with us to create the solution. That is what is most important to us; we know that is of utmost importance to you.