repeating ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ in your mind). ‘Am I a child abuser?’) leading to compulsive mental rituals (e.g. obsessive thoughts about being unacceptable in some way (e.g.obsessive thoughts about things not being ‘right’, leading to a compulsive need for symmetry, tapping, use of lucky numbers.obsessive thoughts about harming others, leading to compulsive avoidance of people and objects that you fear you might use to harm them. obsessive thoughts about being robbed or attacked, leading to compulsive checking of locks and alarms.obsessive thoughts about mistakes, leading to compulsive checking of your work or perfectionism.obsessive thoughts about germs and contamination, leading to compulsions such as excessive hand washing.One of the things that makes OCD so complicated is the many and varied ways that anxiety can play out. The behaviour can be a physical action or even a deliberate thought. Usually you feel better after you have done the behaviour, but it becomes a vicious cycle because you have to keep doing the behaviour to keep your anxiety at bay. They are a way of feeling better, of minimising the chance of something bad happening. Often they are scary because you think that they might be true, that thinking them makes them happen, or that thinking that way makes you a bad person.Ĭompulsive behaviours are a response to feelings of worry and anxiety. Rather they are scary, distressing, horrible thoughts, thoughts that upset you and frighten you but that you can’t stop from coming into your head. They are not the kinds of thoughts that you enjoy thinking. In reality, OCD is a much more complex, distressing and pervasive problem.There are usually two aspects of OCD – obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. This use of the term OCD makes it sound like OCD is a form of extreme and quirky tidiness and organisation. ‘You’re so OCD,’ I overheard someone saying this the other day, to describe a friend who was very organised and tidy, and who likes to peg his washing with matching coloured pegs. ‘I hardly ever wash my hands: The other side of OCD’ Then we take this reassurance any way we can.” JJ Keeler. They build in our heads until we yearn for reassurance the way a junkie yearns for a fix. On one level, we know these obsessions aren’t a reflection of reality. We might even worry about our inactions, fearing that our failure to remove a rock from a walking trail will cause a hiker to trip and fall to his death down a treacherous canyon. We may obsess about throwing hot coffee on a coworker or running over a group of trick-or-treaters with our mother’s minivan. Signs to look out for are persistent lateness or slowness (since compulsive behaviours may eat up a significant portion of kids’ time), repeated requests for reassurance from adults, the urge to hoard useless objects, a perfectionist streak, and a need to do things “just right”.One day we may worry about stabbing our child with a letter opener as they sleep the next day we might fear grabbing a plastic sack and suffocating an elderly woman as she selects avocados at the supermarket. Children may not be able to articulate these fears, though, and parents may only notice some outward signs that may point to the condition. Kids suffering from OCD will have persistent and disturbing worries, doubts and fears which they will attempt to soothe by engaging in compulsive rituals which they believe will protect them from negative outcomes. OCD manifests in children in much the same way as in adults. Rather, OCD is a chronic but treatable medical condition that likely stems from genetic factors rather than parenting style or stressful life events. As is the case with adults, OCD in children is not a sign of bad behaviour or a lack of self-control. OCD affects approximately one out of 100 children and is more common than juvenile diabetes.
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