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Hi guys, my son is very anxious he suffered with a lot of general anxiety, however, lately I've noticed him repeating a sentence over and over again to himself, it's changed a few times, now he is washing his hands a lot, I asked him why and he says he gets a thought that there's snot on them and has to do it, I asked him if his nose had been running or if he'd wiped his nose on his hand and he said no, but I feel like it's there. The hand washing isn't excessive in length, but he's doing it more than he normally would in response to these anxious thoughts. Could this be OCD? I'm scared and worried.xx

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Polar bear he's 10, he's had the most awful anxiety for the past year, he's currently waiting on an appointment with Camhs, he was doing it again today, washing his hands and then he got upset and I asked him why and he said he has to wash them or he's going to have bad luck or karma. I'm pretty sure it's OCD now. ?

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Yep that looks very like OCD to me Wonderer. 

1 hour ago, Wonderer said:

he was doing it again today, washing his hands and then he got upset and I asked him why and he said he has to wash them or he's going to have bad luck or karma. I'm pretty sure it's OCD now. ?

Looks like magical thinking obsession rather than contamination. 

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It's a shame, but knowledge is power Wonderer and you can get him help. He may resist so you'll need to be gentle to encourage him, I expect. 

Here's wishing you good fortune with that process. Don't forget the wonderful material on our website that will help you explain to him what he is experiencing. 

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4 hours ago, Wonderer said:

Hi guys, my son is very anxious he suffered with a lot of general anxiety, however, lately I've noticed him repeating a sentence over and over again to himself, it's changed a few times, now he is washing his hands a lot, I asked him why and he says he gets a thought that there's snot on them and has to do it, I asked him if his nose had been running or if he'd wiped his nose on his hand and he said no, but I feel like it's there. The hand washing isn't excessive in length, but he's doing it more than he normally would in response to these anxious thoughts. Could this be OCD? I'm scared and worried.xx

hi hun 

so sorry to hear your son is going tho this and so sorry your feeling upset...I just wanted to say I'm thinking of u ..has roy and polar bear have already answered your question very well and gave you good answers and I would of said the same thing x

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33 minutes ago, taurean said:

It's a shame, but knowledge is power Wonderer and you can get him help. He may resist so you'll need to be gentle to encourage him, I expect. 

Here's wishing you good fortune with that process. Don't forget the wonderful material on our website that will help you explain to him what he is experiencing. 

Thanks Roy, I'm hoping that by getting him the help early in life he won't struggle too much, but the thought of him struggling for even a day with this disorder is enough to upset me. He will have trouble trying to comprehend what's happening to him as he has autism as well. My poor baby. Being an OCD suffered myself is for once a good thing though, because nothing he tells me will ever shock me and I can show him he's not alone. Thanks xx

27 minutes ago, Snowdog said:

hi hun 

so sorry to hear your son is going tho this and so sorry your feeling upset...I just wanted to say I'm thinking of u ..has roy and polar bear have already answered your question very well and gave you good answers and I would of said the same thing x

Thanks Heidi, it really means a lot <3 xx

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22 minutes ago, Wonderer said:

Thanks Roy, I'm hoping that by getting him the help early in life he won't struggle too much, but the thought of him struggling for even a day with this disorder is enough to upset me. He will have trouble trying to comprehend what's happening to him as he has autism as well. My poor baby. Being an OCD suffered myself is for once a good thing though, because nothing he tells me will ever shock me and I can show him he's not alone. Thanks xx

Thanks Heidi, it really means a lot <3 xx

thats so true hun....thats ok hun always here xx

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Hi Wonderer,

Please don't read blame into what I'm about to say - there is no blame, no guilt ok? :)

When you described his behaviours and worries, it occurred to me to ask if it's possible he might be copying Mum? Is regular hand washing or health worries part of your OCD symptoms?

Kids can pick up on things like 'when mum's anxious she washes a lot' or 'Mum seems scared I'll infect people when I have a runny nose'. The anxiety messages sent out by parents get absorbed and can lead to some copying behaviours, including citing 'something bad will happen' as the reason for doing their compulsive-type behaviours.

From what you say he probably does have OCD rather than just copying and either way, as I said, this isn't about blame or guilt. I was just thinking you might be able to do some home CBT for both of you if it was the same 'theme' - a chance to tackle the fear of illness/excessive safety beliefs together. Nobody will understand his OCD thinking and behaviour better than you. :) 

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3 minutes ago, snowbear said:

Hi Wonderer,

Please don't read blame into what I'm about to say - there is no blame, no guilt ok? :)

When you described his behaviours and worries, it occurred to me to ask if it's possible he might be copying Mum? Is regular hand washing or health worries part of your OCD symptoms?

Kids can pick up on things like 'when mum's anxious she washes a lot' or 'Mum seems scared I'll infect people when I have a runny nose'. The anxiety messages sent out by parents get absorbed and can lead to some copying behaviours, including citing 'something bad will happen' as the reason for doing their compulsive-type behaviours.

From what you say he probably does have OCD rather than just copying and either way, as I said, this isn't about blame or guilt. I was just thinking you might be able to do some home CBT for both of you if it was the same 'theme' - a chance to tackle the fear of illness/excessive safety beliefs together. Nobody will understand his OCD thinking and behaviour better than you. :) 

Hi snowbear, thanks for the reply. I have absolutely no outward compulsions and no contamination fears, I have sexual intrusive thoughts with rumination and avoidance and my kids are aware I have OCD but don't know what goes on in my mind lol. I definitely would've considered that possibility if I did have those compulsions though! He's had an anxiety problem for a year, and at times I had a sneaking suspicion but there wasn't enough boxes to tick with him as certain behaviours are typical of autism, so it was hard to tell, he's getting worse though, and now this, so I'm more convinced I may have been right now ?Xx

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3 minutes ago, snowbear said:

Interesting that your symptoms are very different - as you say, he won't know what's going on in your head. It was just a passing thought, more pondering than anything! :) 

I absolutely would have suggested the same thing to someone else so I totally get why you would wonder! He doesn't even know what OCD is, he was upset about being autistic before and I told him not to worry, mummy had a condition called OCD and I'm still just as good as anyone else, he said what's that and all I said was it was when my brain gets sick and I get really nervous about things I shouldn't worry about, that was him happy and he's never asked me about it again and that was over a year ago ?

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Don't be sad Wonderer - it's good that he will it seems listen to you.Its also good that he has told you what he is obsessing about.

Use that stuff from the website to explain to him what OCD is. 

Put a positive spin on this - he won't be suffering in silence, as we all did and he will recover with the right help and guidance :)

 

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2 minutes ago, taurean said:

Don't be sad Wonderer - it's good that he will it seems listen to you.Its also good that he has told you what he is obsessing about.

Use that stuff from the website to explain to him what OCD is. 

Put a positive spin on this - he won't be suffering in silence, as we all did and he will recover with the right help and guidance :)

 

Aww Roy, I don't think I'm going to tell him I think he has OCD right now, but will work with him on his problems as he tells me them and also try to stop the compulsions as best I can in the meantime, I will leave it to Camhs to tell him if he has it and go from there, I don't want him OCDing about OCD itself until we have spoken to the professionals, he will always have my full support, and I know what I have to do to help, so we'll see how it goes! Thanks again for ur kind words xx

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