Is this just OCD?

[Guest forestchild]

Hi,

I've just joined.

My daughter was diagnosed with OCD in her early teens but we first noticed it when she was about 9. She says she had obssessive thoughts about death when she was about 5.

She is now 25. She also suffers severe depression which she has had since about age 16 and social phobia which she seemed to be born with. We also thought she had ADHD as a child. She was diagnosed with this aged 19.

It's a long story but she's only had 2 short bouts of real help. Her child psychiatrist blamed our parenting. She was under another psychiatrist from age 17 - 19. Many kinds of anti depressants were tried but none helped and some made her worse. Eventually she was tried on Ritalin and she seemed much better. Unfortunately after 4 months she broke up with her boyfriend and had a major quarrel with her younger brother and misssed 2 psch appointments. The doctor sent a rather abrupt letter which upset her and she refised to go again and medication was stopped.

.

Eventually we got a referral to another doctor. Ritalin was started again and she improved again but after 4 months the doctor moved on and forgot to refer her, she ran out of medication and couldn't get out of the house for 3 years.

We have finally got her to a new psch last Monday and I was hoping they might help her until today.

I'm now wondering if she has some other illnesss. I am looking for advice at to whether you think this in normal for OCD.

She is a vegan and will not even make coffee in the kitchen after meat fish or eggs have been prepared until she has cleaned the whole kitchen. Today she got up late and her brother was cooking eggs. She began to cry saying she couldn't have her coffee. Then she got really upset because her slippers were drying on the fireguard in the dining room. She said the air was full of eggs and she would have to wash them again. She banged her head on the door, kicked the cupboard and got quite hysterical.

She stood in front of the fire while we ate our tea crying, then when her father got up to take her brother to his girlfriend's she shouted,

'He can go out. He doesn't care.'

I said, 'Don't start that again' because I can't cope with it all anymore and she smashed the window and tried to cut her wrists.

She says there are voices in her head telling her she has to do things or other things will happen.

Today she asked me to let her die because she is so unhappy.

The doctor she saw on Monday said she didn't think C had ADHD and that her depression and OCD was down to our family situation ie having brothers who don't care and her having to look after us - I have ill health and she helps with the housework - the doctor didn't really give me a chance to give the other side as I didn't know what C had said until we got home.

C never mentioned she had been abused by a neighbour and badly bullied at shool.

Does this sort of behaviour occur with just OCD or should I be worrying she has a personality disorder or something?

[Mel1971]

hi

welcome to the forums, i just want to point out their is lots of info on the main ocd uk website.

I have a ten year old daughter with ocd and i have to say i can see some similarities despite the age gap. My daughter wrecks her stuff including dearly loved toys/dvds/books, or self harms when she is upset.

The voices in her head could be ocd at work, i know Lorna describes them as voices in her head but they are just ocd at work. The part when you said about the depression and your daughter wanting to end it all rang so true, my daughter even at her young age has expressed a wish to die as she felt so bad.

I would say that the doc you saw this week has limited knowledge of ocd, and therefore its so easy to blame the parents - well its not and you need to see a gp in that surgery that specialises in mental health either that or go back to the original gp and demand Cognitive Behavioiural Therapy the best therapy for ocd sufferers. I have found that most people have to push and keep pushing to get help for ocd therapy and you probably will have to. But forewarned is forearmed and take a chance to read thru the literature that the website has - which includes an ice-breaker gp sheet to print off.

take care xx

[Guest forestchild]

Thanks for replying, Mel. It's reassuring. I was beginning to wonder if she had a psychotic illness.

The problem is, because she felt so much better when on Ritalin she is refusing any other therapy until the give it back to her. Personally I can't see why that wouldn't be the best route anyway as the anti ds never helped and she was a different girl when she was on it. I still think she probably does have ADHD too.

I will have a look at the info on this website.

thanks

[Guest Chris58]

Hi,

I've just joined.

My daughter was diagnosed with OCD in her early teens but we first noticed it when she was about 9. She says she had obssessive thoughts about death when she was about 5.

She is now 25. She also suffers severe depression which she has had since about age 16 and social phobia which she seemed to be born with. We also thought she had ADHD as a child. She was diagnosed with this aged 19.

It's a long story but she's only had 2 short bouts of real help. Her child psychiatrist blamed our parenting. She was under another psychiatrist from age 17 - 19. Many kinds of anti depressants were tried but none helped and some made her worse. Eventually she was tried on Ritalin and she seemed much better. Unfortunately after 4 months she broke up with her boyfriend and had a major quarrel with her younger brother and misssed 2 psch appointments. The doctor sent a rather abrupt letter which upset her and she refised to go again and medication was stopped.

.

Eventually we got a referral to another doctor. Ritalin was started again and she improved again but after 4 months the doctor moved on and forgot to refer her, she ran out of medication and couldn't get out of the house for 3 years.

We have finally got her to a new psch last Monday and I was hoping they might help her until today.

I'm now wondering if she has some other illnesss. I am looking for advice at to whether you think this in normal for OCD.

She is a vegan and will not even make coffee in the kitchen after meat fish or eggs have been prepared until she has cleaned the whole kitchen. Today she got up late and her brother was cooking eggs. She began to cry saying she couldn't have her coffee. Then she got really upset because her slippers were drying on the fireguard in the dining room. She said the air was full of eggs and she would have to wash them again. She banged her head on the door, kicked the cupboard and got quite hysterical.

She stood in front of the fire while we ate our tea crying, then when her father got up to take her brother to his girlfriend's she shouted,

'He can go out. He doesn't care.'

I said, 'Don't start that again' because I can't cope with it all anymore and she smashed the window and tried to cut her wrists.

She says there are voices in her head telling her she has to do things or other things will happen.

Today she asked me to let her die because she is so unhappy.

The doctor she saw on Monday said she didn't think C had ADHD and that her depression and OCD was down to our family situation ie having brothers who don't care and her having to look after us - I have ill health and she helps with the housework - the doctor didn't really give me a chance to give the other side as I didn't know what C had said until we got home.

C never mentioned she had been abused by a neighbour and badly bullied at shool.

Does this sort of behaviour occur with just OCD or should I be worrying she has a personality disorder or something?

[Guest Chris58]

Hi,

I just joined today and my daugher is 22 and began with OCD in 2001 at eleven. I managed to get her to see our GP twice, but she wouldn't go to see the mental health team and my other daughter and me get similar behaviour about death and voices as you have spoken of and I have just posted asking if anyone has advice as I am really struggling after such a long time. I too have thought my daughter might have some other mental health illness as for her the voices control her life and mine but without a proper assessment it's hard to know but I have read OCD can present like this.

I used to think it was me and the fact her dad left us but never let anyone tell you that and believe it, my daughter and me do so much to try to help and get my OCD daughter to cope but she never sees what she is like when in the throws of it and says similar things and then on a coping day will say sorry but it happens over and over and once it begins it snow balls unless I back right off, words don't go in when they struggle just make her worse. We don't have other family to support us and it is so awful, not called secret for nothing.

Chris58

[Guest quicheme]

Hi Forestchild. I know this post was a while ago so hope things are OK. I have quite a similar issue to your daughter, with regards to the cooking of meat, fish and eggs at least, cos I'm a veggie to. Mine got so bad that I had to move out of my family's place. I was just wondering on a coping day how does she behave? Infact likewise Chris58? How much better do they function? Would you say that both of your childrens 'off days' are largely triggered by situations that happen at home? I don't really know what I'm talking about and Mels advice to read the literature on this site is of course the way to go. I would say this though; if you can help your kids in the short term by appeasing them, then it might help everyone to think a bit clearer. When I was living at home and my folks cooked meat, I couldn't eat indoors, I had to soap out my mouth in the morning. I couldn't sleep, eat, drink, talk or even breath in my own home and it drove me to do and say really uncharacteristic things. It was like a warzone and I left before my full course of CBT cos I couldn't cope living with them. If you can create a 'safer' environment (even if it is caving in to their OCD)and rebuild relationships and decide collectively a plan by persisting with the GP's and OCD specialists then I think the plan might be more likely to succeed.