Jump to content

5 year old with obsessive compulsive symptoms


Recommended Posts

We have a wonderful 5 year old boy. He's very lively and generally happy but he has been increasingly anxious at school - worrying about understanding lessons and various aspects of conduct. There have also been some pressures at home with the family dog (who he adores) recently becoming ill with cancer.

Over the last week he has very rapidly developed symptoms that look like OCD. He has been asking questions about everything and confessing to habits eg

“I think I ground my teeth just now, is that OK?”
“I just rubbed my eyes twice - is that OK?”
“If I walk like this is it OK?
“I just used a funny voice - is that OK? Am I in trouble?”

He will not let it go until he has been reassured several times and even then it comes back moments later.

Sometimes we explain things to him and when he is stressed he just gets more anxious and says:

"Do I need to know this? Do I have to remember all this? Just tell me what I need to know"

He has also wanted to tell us about intrusive thoughts eg “I am sorry I was thinking about kicking you earlier”.

and tonight he started describing some new obsession with symmetry - "I like it when its fair - there is one here and one there" etc

Whilst some obsession is consistent with his character the sudden scale of this has knocked us (my wife and I) for six. We went to the GP but he didn't perceive a problem and said he was too young to be referred to CAHMS. Obviously we want to deal with this right so that he can get it under control and it not become an established problem for him.

Any help / advice greatly appreciated!

 

 

Link to comment

Sorry to see your post has been languishing here for a couple of days. I guess the main forum gets checked more often. As an OCD sufferer, what you describe sounds like quintessential OCD. Difficult enough for an adult to grasp, more so, I would imagine, for a young one. The good news is that with the right therapy your son can be much better. I'm not in the UK. but I guess OCD-UK might be able to offer advice re treatment. Incidentally, you seem to have a pretty good insight into the disorder. Best of luck, to you and your family. 

Edited by paradoxer
Link to comment
On 3/25/2017 at 13:52, Dad said:

We have a wonderful 5 year old boy. He's very lively and generally happy but he has been increasingly anxious at school - worrying about understanding lessons and various aspects of conduct. There have also been some pressures at home with the family dog (who he adores) recently becoming ill with cancer.

Over the last week he has very rapidly developed symptoms that look like OCD. He has been asking questions about everything and confessing to habits eg

“I think I ground my teeth just now, is that OK?”
“I just rubbed my eyes twice - is that OK?”
“If I walk like this is it OK?
“I just used a funny voice - is that OK? Am I in trouble?”

He will not let it go until he has been reassured several times and even then it comes back moments later.

Sometimes we explain things to him and when he is stressed he just gets more anxious and says:

"Do I need to know this? Do I have to remember all this? Just tell me what I need to know"

He has also wanted to tell us about intrusive thoughts eg “I am sorry I was thinking about kicking you earlier”.

and tonight he started describing some new obsession with symmetry - "I like it when its fair - there is one here and one there" etc

Whilst some obsession is consistent with his character the sudden scale of this has knocked us (my wife and I) for six. We went to the GP but he didn't perceive a problem and said he was too young to be referred to CAHMS. Obviously we want to deal with this right so that he can get it under control and it not become an established problem for him.

Any help / advice greatly appreciated!

Message as a quote here - so you get a response notification. 

 

 

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

Sorry to hear your son is struggling at the moment.

My son is nearly 7 and he has shown OCD symptoms since he was about 3 years old.

I think your best bet would be to ring Young Minds. Its an amazing charity which speacialises in mental health problems in young children.

If you explain to the operator what you have written here, they will advise you on your options. I managed to get a free 60 minute phone call with a childrens CBT therapist! It was so useful. He gave us tips and tricks on the best language to use when avoiding reassuring your child, he also explained all the options we had if we decided to go down the CAMHS service.. your child is not too young for that. 

I know its very hard, but every time you reassure your child, you are helping the OCD take hold. 

You have already mentioned that he is not happy with just being told once x y or z is ok. Thats the OCD right there, thats the whole root of the problem.

Even though we know there is literally no chance of our fear, worry or bad feeling coming true, we still cant risk it. We have to just make sure, we have to find out for certain. But when we are told or read or partake in a ritualistic behaviour.. Its still not enough, the doubt comes back again, even though we know we have checked already, that 0.00001% chance could still be a threat. 

I hope some of this makes sense! Let us know how u guys get on x

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...