Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Children | Help

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder. Obsessions are recurring thoughts. Compulsions are recurring behaviors.

A child with OCD has obsessive thoughts that are not wanted. They are linked to fears, such as touching dirty objects. He or she uses compulsive rituals to control the fears, such as excessive handwashing.

As children grow, rituals and obsessive thoughts normally happen with a purpose and focus based on age. Preschool children often have rituals and routines around meals, bathing, and bedtime. These help to stabilize their expectations and view of their world. School-aged children often create group rituals as they learn to play games, take part in team sports, and recite rhymes. Older children and teens start to collect objects and have hobbies. These rituals help children to socialize and learn to deal with anxiety.

When a child has OCD, obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals can become very frequent and strong. They may interfere with daily living and normal development. OCD is more common in teens.

Symptoms of childhood OCD

Each child may have different symptoms. These are the most common symptoms:

An extreme obsession with dirt or germs
Repeated doubts, such as whether or not the door is locked
Interfering thoughts about violence, hurting or killing someone, or harming oneself
Long periods of time spent touching things, counting, and thinking about numbers and sequences
Preoccupation with order, symmetry, or exactness
Ongoing thoughts about doing offensive sexual acts or forbidden, taboo behaviors
Troubled by thoughts that are against personal religious beliefs
A great need to know or remember things that may be very minor
Too much attention to detail
Too much worrying about something bad occurring
Aggressive thoughts, urges, or behaviors

Compulsive behaviors are the repetitive rituals used to ease anxiety caused by the obsessions. They can be excessive, disruptive, and time-consuming. They may interfere with daily activities and relationships. They may include:

Repeated handwashing (often 100 or more times a day)
Checking and rechecking many times, such as making sure that a door is locked
Following firm rules of order, such as putting on clothes in the very same order each day
Hoarding objects
Counting and recounting a lot
Grouping objects or putting things in a certain order
Repeating words spoken by oneself or others
Asking the same questions again and again
Repeatedly using four-letter words or making rude (obscene) gestures
Repeating sounds, words, numbers, or music to oneself

Support, guidance and assistance of a therapist is fundamental for a child to overcome repetition, anxiety and meet developmental mile stones. If you or someone you know match the symptoms listed above, I am confident that I can help and invite you to contact me today for a free consultation.